


Fighting Against the End

by OMFGhehehe, SoaringBallad



Category: TsukiPro the Animation, ツキウタ。 | Tsukiuta.
Genre: FE:3H AU, Growth, Humor, Infint0, M/M, Procellarum - Freeform, Quell, Rockdown, SOARA, Six Gravity - Freeform, Vazzy - Freeform, Zix, minor Fluna, minor Seleas, solids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 46,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21727123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OMFGhehehe/pseuds/OMFGhehehe, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoaringBallad/pseuds/SoaringBallad
Summary: Fire Emblem 3 Houses AUAttending the Officer's Academy are pupils from three separate nations: the Gepakku Empire, the Kingdom of Akane, and the Mokuran Alliance. Although the students are getting military training, they live in a time of relative peace. While training alongside each other and sharing meals, the students had no idea what was in store for them in the future.
Relationships: Hazuki You/Nagatsuki Yoru, Horimiya Eichi/Izumi Shuu, Kujikawa Haruto/Onoda Shou, Murase Dai/Sera Rikka, Mutsuki Hajime/Yayoi Haru, Nanase Nozomu/Munakata Ren, Takamura Shiki/Okui Tsubasa
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	1. Great Tree Moon, 1180 Part 1

Mikoto, the head of the Shikkoku Monastery looked down at his new arrivals. The newest batch of recruits were pouring in and he was getting excited. This year was the year that the three heirs of each major country in Mushiki were attending the Officer’s Academy. He knew that it would be a special year.

“It’s beginning,” Mikoto said aloud, though there was no one to hear. He turned away from the edge of the balcony and returned into his private room. Opening up a folder, he reviewed the students again.

There was a knock on the door which made him realize that it was time for the opening ceremony. He opened the door to reveal his colleague, Kanade. “Sir, it’s starting.”

“Yes, I imagine that this year is going to be an interesting one,” Mikoto said. “All three nations future leaders are head of their respective classes this year.”

“They are?” Kanade asked. He then thought about it, “I guess it is true with Shimotsuki Shun as the leader of the White Tiger class, Takamura Shiki as the leader of the Vermillion Bird class, and Mikaze Roa as the leader of the Azure Dragon class.” He paused. “Ah, but I guess you already knew that,” Kanade said sheepishly.

“Are you two ready?” Another figure that approached asked. That was Dai another professor at the school. They walked down the stairs and went towards the Cathedral. Dai signaled for the guards stationed at the gate to open it for them so they could go into the large room. The men made their way to the front of the Cathedral so they would be ready to begin the ceremony when the students arrived.

At the front of the Cathedral, Fumihiko, Hinata, and Minato all waited. Fumihiko was another professor at the Officer’s Academy, Hinata was the captain of the Knights of Tsukino, and Minato was the librarian.

The students began filling the pews with the guide of the clergy. The students were separated based on their class and their year at the academy. The students who had been there for awhile seemed confident which set them apart from the younger, more anxious, students sitting upfront.

Once, the seats were filled, the speech began. “I would like to begin by welcoming you all here. Whether you are a returning student or a new student, I expect great accomplishments from you,” Mikoto started. “I would also like to introduce our professors. For the White Tiger house, Dai will be teaching you.”

Dai stepped forward and waved so everyone would know who he was. He already recognized some of his students from last year, such as the next in line for the imperial throne, Shimotsuki Shun, as well as others like Horimiya Eichi.

“For the Vermillion Bird house, Fumihiko will be your professor.” Fumihiko stood forward now and waved so the students would know what he looked like. “And last, but certainly not least, Kanade will be teaching the Azure Dragon house.” Kanade waved to the crowd. He got a wink back from Roa.

After introducing the teachers, Mikoto went on to talk about the expectations for the students as well as some of the fun activities that they would have to look forward to in the coming school year. The highlights being the Battle of the Tiger and Bird, as well as the White Heron Cup.

“Lastly, I know some of you might be wondering what happened to all of the female students. As I’m sure some of you may have heard, they are, in fact, at the academy near the Eastern Church. Since hormones seem to be an issue, it was a necessary step to protect the sanctity of the Church, and its people.” There were some groans in response, while a few of the older students looked sheepish. “With that, I bid you all a wonderful school year. Dismissed!”

Immediately many students got up to rub their aching butts and legs. The speech went on way too long. Many of the returning students left quickly, already knowing how to get to their dorm rooms, but several of the new students felt lost.

“Where do we go?” Nao asked loudly. Yuma, Nao’s childhood friend, felt a little embarrassed with how loudly Nao had asked.

“Shh,” Yuma shushed, “we wouldn’t want to bother anyone.” Truth be told, Yuma didn’t want to be overheard by any of the clergy or the professors. It would be something that he felt like would cause them to look down on Nao and him.

“Do you need help finding your room?” Ichiru asked. Ichiru was determined to help his fellow classmate, and maybe make a friend in the process. Having lived at the Church for several years now, Ichiru knew his way around the grounds easily. Issei, Ichiru’s soft-spoken twin brother hoped that his twin’s loud voice didn’t surprise the two too much.

“Yeah. Wait, aren’t you new to the Officer’s Academy too? You look as young as us,” Nao said.

“I’ve lived here for several years already,” Ichiru proclaimed, hoping to impress his classmate.

“Really?” Nao asked, “Then please help us find the dorms!” He was happy that he didn’t have to ask any of the adults for help. They all seemed so scary. They could all be long-winded too, like that guy who talked for hours.

“It’s really nice of you to offer your assistance, I’m Shirase Yuma, by the way.” Yuma said to the twins. He wondered about their background, as he was curious as to why they had been living at the church so long, but figured it would be rude to ask outright.

“I’m Kuga Issei, and he’s Ichiru,” Issei introduced both him and his brother.

“I’m Oyama Naosuke, but you can call me Nao,” Nao said. “So are you two brothers? You look identical!”

“We’re twins,” Ichiru said proudly.

“It’s nice to meet the both of you,” Yuma said. With introductions out of the way, they made their way outside of the Cathedral and walked to the school grounds.

“There are two sets of dorms, I’ll take you to yours,” Issei said addressing Yuma. Yuma had thought that his and Nao’s dorms would be near each other, so he was a little disappointed after finding out they were separated. 

“And I’ll take you to yours,” Ichiru said to Nao. “The commoner dorms are this way.”

“And the dorms for nobility are this way,” Issei said.

“Wait a second,” Yuma said. “I am not nobility. I am just a commoner.”

“Really?” Ichiru asked. “But you talk all stuffy, like nobility.” Issei elbowed his brother after he said that.

“What he means to say is that you are very polite and formal when you talk, so we thought that you were nobility,” Issei smoothed over.

“It’s okay,” Yuma said. “I’m not unhappy that you think that.” The four of them walked together since their destination was the same. “This one says Kuga Ichiru, so this must be your dorm!” Yuma said. He then saw that his own dorm was right next to it.

“Here’s mine!” Nao shouted. His dorm was two down from Yuma’s dorm with Issei’s in-between theirs. On his other side was Shiwasu Kakeru. He opened the door to find that the luggage that had been taken from him when he arrived, was inside. “My stuff is in here!”

“Well, we’ll leave the two of you to unpack,” Issei said, since that was what he really wanted to do. Although he and Ichiru had lived in the church, they had lived in a dorm separate from the students before now.

As the four of them went to unpack, they heard some noise. Several dorms down, there were two guys arguing. “You’re here again this year?” A fiery red-haired male asked the other one.

“Oh, you didn’t get kicked out?” the other one retorted. “I thought they caught you taking something.”

“I didn’t take anything!” The red-head said defensively. The other male shrugged and unlocked his dorm room, seemingly ignoring the presence of the red-head now.

“Arata!” Another person joined the fray. “Stop arguing with You.” The newcomer entered Arata’s room after him.

“My bad, Aoi,” Arata said lazily. He didn’t mean to argue in front of his childhood friend. “Though, he started it.”

“It doesn’t matter who started it, you should know better by now,” Aoi chastised. “I came to help you unpack.”

“I don’t have much to unpack,” Arata said. Since he had been here last year, he had figured out what he needed and what he didn’t. When it came time to move dorms, Arata decided to get rid of things rather than move everything, so it really lightened his load.

“You can help me unpack, Aoi,” You said. He definitely needed the help, and he was wondering how Aoi unpacked so fast.

“That was intense,” Yuma muttered to himself. “I thought there was going to be a fight. Are they our upperclassmen?”

“No, they are part of the Vermillion Bird house,” A man said coming from a little ways down. “I’m Oguro Gaku from the White Tiger house.”

“I’m Nadumi Ruka,” an energetic pink-headed male popped up from seemingly nowhere next to Gaku. “I’m also in the White Tiger house, but let’s get along, okay?” Nao, Yuma, and the twins all introduced themselves to the two newcomers. It seemed the returning students were quick at unpacking and were ready to meet the new students.

“Ichiru, Issei, have you finished unpacking?” Yet another person approached the group.

“Shu!” both the twins ran over to the man and hugged him.

“I came to get you two, the Azure Dragon students are meeting up in the dining hall for supper,” Shu said. Yuma looked at Nao unsure. The two of them were also members of the Azure Dragon class, but he didn’t know if they were invited or not.

“We’ll unpack later,” Nao said. “I’m starving.” Shu laughed. 

“Should we all head over together then?” Shu asked. He got four eager nods. They were about to head over when the room next to Nao’s burst open.

“Did somebody say supper?” A disheveled blond asked. “I’m down!” He then sped off towards the Cathedral.

“That’s the wrong way!” Shu called. With that, the blond turned back around.

“Please take me to the hall of good meals, yummy sustenance, scrumptious bites!” The man, who Yuma could only assume was Kakeru, seemed like quite the fellow.

“Of course, of course,” Shu said. “Follow me.” With that, he lead five hungry teenagers to the dining hall. He quickly found the table where the Azure Dragon house was utilizing for their get-to-know-each-other supper.

“Welcome one, welcome all!” Roa said greeting the six of them. “I take it you are Azure Dragon students? If not then, begone!” He eyed Shu up and down suspiciously.

“We are,” Shu said, already used to Roa’s antics.

“I’m not too sure about you,” Roa continued his gag.

“I guess I’ll just go then,” Shu said, making to leave.

“No!” Roa whined. “Sit down, stay for awhile!”

“This is our house leader, right?” Yuma whispered to Issei, dismayed by the scene before him. The man was acting like he was a child!

“I guess so, I think he’s one of Shu’s friends,” Issei whispered back, “Maybe that is why he is acting weird.”

“I’m Ichiru!” Ichiru announced to the whole table. Yuma hoped Nao would not follow his lead.

“I’m Nao!” Nao said, even louder than Ichiru as though it was a competition.

“I’m Sora!” A man seated at the table announced. His friend sitting next to him sighed. Yuma had the feeling that he would end up bonding with him over their friends antics.

“Sora, there was no need for that, I’m sure we’ll all introduce ourselves when everyone gets here,” He admonished.

“But, Soushi, we already started,” Sora said. “This is Soushi!” Sora announced. Yuma knew what was coming next and steeled himself.

“This is Yuma!” Nao said pointing at Yuma and then grabbing his arm and making him wave.

“This is my twin brother, Issei! We’re twins!” Ichiru shouted, attracting the attention of some other people in the dining hall. Issei wondered why he had to repeat that twice.

“Wait, are the two of you twins?” Roa asked. Shu gave his friend a look.

“Yes, we’re twins!” Ichiru repeated proudly.

“Well, since the twins have started introductions, I guess we all should introduce ourselves. I am Mikaze Roa, house leader of the Azure Dragons,” Roa said. “Shu, you go next.”

“Alright, I’m Izumi Shu, I’m a third year at the academy. Don’t hesitate to ask me if you need anything.” Shu smiled and looked around the table to see what kind of reaction he got. Kai smiled at him, but everyone else looked a little bored.

“KAKERU!” A loud voice called. Kakeru jumped from where he had been eating supper. A pink-haired male ran into the dining room looking around wildly. His eyes locked onto Kakeru’s form and he ran over, wrapping his friend into a hug.

“Hey, Koi,” Kakeru said, though it was muffled since his mouth was full of food.

“Are you eating?” one of the older students sitting at the table asked in a menacing voice. Kakeru gulped down his food nervously.

“I-isn’t this the d-dining hall?” Kakeru asked, looking around shifty-eyed. That’s when he noticed no one else at the table had food yet.

“Takaaki, don’t scare the new students!” Kai said. “Should we grab some food before continuing on with the introductions, it looks like everyone is here.”

“Okay, everyone go grab some food and we’ll continue introductions,” Roa repeated with a voice of authority.

“Do you like the food?” one of the students asked Kakeru.

“It’s delicious!” Kakeru said, relieved that he wasn’t in any trouble. “I didn’t expect the dining hall to have such good food.”

“I’m so glad to hear that. I was a little nervous that no one would like what I made,” the student said shyly.

“That’s crazy. It is really delicious…,” Kakeru trailed off.

“Oh! I’m Nagatsuki Yoru, a second-year,” Yoru said. Since it was an off-time for supper, the students started coming back with food fairly quickly.

“Kai, you should introduce yourself next,” Roa said. Kai opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted.

“I’m Mamiya Takaaki,” the student who had threatened Kakeru said. “Nice to meet you!”

“He’s a third year, like me, Fuduki Kai,” Kai said, trying to play off Takaaki smoothly. “Why don’t you go next,” He said to a blue-haired male that had yet to say anything. The male took a minute to realize that he was being spoken to, too focused on the desserts he had for supper.

“I’m Tachibana Ayumu, I’ll do my best,” he said, and then went back to eating cake.

“Are you having cake for supper?” Nao asked, surprised that it was even allowed.

“I brought it in from the outside,” Ayumu admitted shyly. He offered a small piece to Nao. The orange-haired male took it graciously.

“That’s so yummy!” Nao said. Yuma looked over jealous.

“Are introductions done yet?” Takaaki asked.

“Um, no!” another blue-haired individual in the class spoke up. “I’m--”

“Too late, I guess you’re expelled then,” Takaaki said interrupting the student.

“Takaaki, stop picking on the underclassmen,” Shu said. “Please, go ahead.” The student was still getting over the shock of what Takaaki had said, but he quickly spoke up.

“I’m Yaegashi Kensuke, nice to meet you. I hope we have a good school year together,” Kensuke hoped that he gave a good impression. He was a little worried he wouldn’t make any friends.

“I haven’t introduced myself either, I’m Shiwasu Kakeru,” Kakeru said. “This is Yoru,” He said pointing to the student who made the dinner, “and this is Koi,” he pointed to his pink-haired friend. “Now can we focus on eating?” Takaaki laughed.

“I like your energy. Yes, yes, let’s eat. But first, cheers! To another great year for the Azure Dragons,” Takaaki raised a glass with juice and began to clink it against the other students, whether they had raised them for a toast or not. He ended up accidentally knocking Yoru’s glass over, but paid it no mind. Yoru cleaned it up a little bitterly.

“Hey guys!” Kanade said gently. “I’m Kanade, your professor in case you don’t remember. I hope to have a wonderful school year with you all.” Takaaki reached over to clink his glass with Kanade’s glasses. 

The professor seemed a little frazzled, but continued. “I just wanted to let you know that it would be wise to get to bed early tonight as classes start at seven.” There were collective groans across the table.

“Well, you heard the bossman,” Roa said. “After finishing up, we can hit the bath together, and then head to bed.”

“Roa!” Shu exclaimed.

“Just kidding,” Roa said. “I hope to see everyone bright and early for class. After we finish eating, I can take you guys over to the classroom so you know where it is tomorrow morning if you want.”

“Yes please!” a chorus of underclassmen shouted. Tomorrow, the hard work would begin.


	2. Great Tree Moon, 1180: Part 2

Class for the students of the Shikkoku Monastery’s Officer class started early in the morning, much to the displeasure of the students. On this day, one class would be found doing something very different. That class was not the Vermillion Bird class, though.

Fumihiko, their professor, arrived early to plan his lesson. He was also marking the attendance of the students as they came in. The first student to arrive was Sukigawa Rei, he greeted Fumihiko and then pulled out a book on battle strategy.

Slowly, the students trickled in, and Fumihiko greeted each one of them. He was quite thankful that his attendance sheet had pictures so he could recognize any students that were new to the academy. Many of the students though, he recognized from the year prior. He had to suppress a groan when Aoi, Arata, and You entered the classroom.

Although Aoi wasn’t a problem in class, Arata and You would talk all the time. Fumihiko briefly entertained the idea of a seating chart, but figured that the students would complain too much. Finally, when it came time for class to begin, he noticed that there were still two students missing.

One of the missing students was a new student Kujikawa Haruto, and the other was Onoda Shou. He had Shou the year prior so he knew that he had trouble getting up in the mornings, as for Haruto, he figured that he must have gotten lost.

“Shiki, could you go to the commoner dorms and see if Haruto is there?” Fumihiko asked the class leader.

“Yeah,” Shiki said, as soon as he got up though, Haruto and Shou both came into the classroom.

“Sorry we are late,” Shou apologized.

“Sorry,” Haruto echoed. They both quickly made their way to an empty table and sat down next to each other.

“It’s fine. I’m glad that you both made it here. Now that everyone is here, let us begin today’s lesson,” Fumihiko said. “Today we will be focusing on basic strategy. For some of you, this will be a refresher so I expect you to help out the newer students.”

He was about to begin, but Ren raised his hand, he nodded towards him, letting him know that he could speak. “Are we always going to have lessons with only the students from our house?”

That was an odd question, but Fumihiko answered it, “Of course. Each of the students of differing houses will get a similar education, it is just easiest to divide up like this.” Ren looked a little disappointed at the answer, but didn’t say anything else.

“Does everyone have their basic war strategy textbooks out?” Fumihiko asked. He surveyed the class and noticed that most of them did not have their textbooks with them.

“I didn’t bring it,” Arata said with a shrug.

“Did we need to bring our textbooks?” Ren whispered. He hadn’t even thought of that. He felt so silly.

“It really isn’t that necessary.” Ren jumped when the man next to him spoke. Sitting next to Ren was a very tall student, who was definitely an upperclassman. Ren cursed his luck, he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say.

“But he just said that we needed to have them,” Ren replied.

“We’ll use them today, but that’s really it,” The older student replied.

Fumihiko let out a sigh. “To everyone who brought your textbooks, good job. To everyone who didn’t bring your textbooks, please bring them tomorrow.” Fumihiko wanted to make a comment about following the class leader’s example, but he noticed Shiki didn’t bring his textbook either.

“Got it!” A chorus of students said in unison.

“For now, make sure you are sitting next to someone who has a textbook and look off theirs,” Fumihiko instructed. He watched as the students got up and tried to find others who had brought their textbooks. 

In the end, everyone ended up crowded around three tables. The only ones who brought their textbooks were Aoi, Koki, and Futaba. Fumihiko was glad that Koki, a new student, had the sense to bring his textbook, his faith in humanity wasn’t quite lost.

“If you’ll open up to page five, we’ll begin,” Fumihiko said. “Can someone read the first paragraph aloud.” He paused to see who put their hands up, unsurprisingly, no one did. “Please read the first paragraph, You.”

“Can we do a get-to-know-each-other activity instead?” You asked. Fumihiko sighed, his students really did not care about their education.

“I suppose it would be beneficial to get to know your classmates. Okay, but since you suggested it, why don’t you begin the introductions, You.”

“I’m Haiduki You, a second year student. I am not part of the reason the girls were moved to another school, despite what you might hear,” You said.

“Uduki Arata, I’ll admit to being part of the reason the girls moved schools,” Arata greeted with a lazy wave.

“I’m Satsuki Aoi, for any new students, please just ignore Arata and You’s antics,” Aoi said. You let out a “hey” of displeasure while Arata just grinned.

“I’m Mutsuki Hajime, it is nice to meet everyone,” Hajime went next since he was sitting at their table. He then looked at Ren who was also seated there. Ren didn’t realize that he was looking at him as an indication to go next and blushed. “You should introduce yourself next.”

“Oh!” Ren shouted. He got up, “I’m Munakata Ren, it’s nice to meet everyone.” He blushed harder when he realized he just copied Hajime’s greeting.

“I’m Murase Dai,” The student who had been sitting next to Ren said. He then sat down promptly.

“I’m Etou Koki, I’m new here so I hope that we can all get along,” Koki said. “You can go next,” he whispered to his friend as he sat down.

“I’m Sugai Makoto,” His friend said, like Dai, he sat down right after.

“I am Sukigawa Rei, as a senior, I would be happy to assist anyone who needed help, whether it be with academy life, or academics,” Rei said next. 

“Takamura Shiki, class leader,” Shiki said. He then looked to the students at Shou’s table.

“I’m Onoda Shou, I’m very happy to be attending school with all of you,” Shou greeted next.

“Kujikawa Haruto, I’m new here,” Haruto said next.

“I’m Kiduku Futaba, it’s nice to meet you all. Oh, and this is Issa, he’s my brother,” Futaba said next.

  
Issa hit his brother in the chest after he sat down, “I can introduce myself you know.” Futaba just laughed sheepishly.

“Now that we’ve all introduced ourselves, let us begin. You, can you read the paragraph on page five?” Fumihiko asked.

“It’s just about the weapon triangle, that’s basic stuff everyone should know that,” You groaned.

“Some students are learning this for the first time, so would you please read the paragraph,” Fumihiko said patiently. He knew that he was in for a long year.

You sighed, but began reading, “The three most basic weapons of war are the sword, the lance, and the axe. These weapons each have their own strengths and weakness, but in typical combat situations there is a certain type of weapon that may be preferred. When in combat against someone wielding an axe, the sword is the perfect weapon to use as it is light. This means that the user can quickly get close to their opponent and strike them down before they have the chance to strike back.”

“Futaba, the next paragraph please?” Fumihiko asked.

“When your opponent is wielding a lance, on the other hand, it is best to use an axe. This is because, like a lance, the axe has long reach. Lances are not strong weapons like the axe, so an axe user will strike down their opponent much easier. Lastly, when the opponent is wielding a sword, the best weapon is a lance. Lances have a long reach that will allow the user to take down their opponent quickly, and before they get too close.”

“Very good,” Fumihiko complimented. “Does anyone have any questions?” He looked around the room and saw Koki raise his hand. “Yes?”

“What would be a situation where this wouldn’t be true?” Koki asked.

“Well imagine that your opponent wields an axe, but they are on a mount, what do you think would be the best weapon to use?” Fumihiko posed a new question.

“A sword, would be best according to the book, but a sword probably wouldn’t be able to reach the enemy,” Koki answered. “So what weapon would you use in that situation?”

“Does anyone have any ideas?” Fumihiko asked. He saw Dai’s hand go up. “Yes?”

“An axe,” Dai answered.

“Why is that?”

“You would need a weapon that has long reach like an axe or a lance, but a lance wouldn’t have enough power.”

“That is a good argument, does anyone have any other ideas?” Fumihiko asked.

“I think a sword would still be the best choice,” Haruto spoke up suddenly. “Even if they are on a mount, you can cut down the mount with a sword and then cut the enemy on top of the mount down.” Several of the students in the class balked at the idea of hurting the mount.

“That could work, but what if the enemy is on a flying mount?”

“You should use a bow,” Issa said.

“Bows aren’t in the equation yet, if your choices are a sword, lance, or axe, what would you use?”

“I would say a short axe would be ideal in that situation,” Rei said. “That way you could throw the axe to hit your opponent.”

“See Koki, there are plenty of different reasons why the weapon stronger in the weapon triangle might not be the best option,” Fumihiko said. He was proud that his students could come up with such great answers despite the different scenarios.

“Now I want you guys to partner up and fill out these worksheets. You’ll be tasked with figuring out the best weapon to use in different scenarios like we just did in class,” Fumhiko instructed. He watched as the students went back to their tables to complete his exercise. “You may use any resources you want, and I want this completed by tomorrow. I’ll collect it when you come in.”

With that, Fumihiko went to the front of the class to plan out his lesson for their combat practice later in the day. “I can’t believe we had to learn about the weapon triangle again,” Arata complained.

“I know, I feel like I’ll go crazy if I have to hear about it again. Literally everyone knows it already,” You agreed.

“Just wait until next year, you’ll get to hear about it again,” Shiki said. “This is my fourth time.”

“Shouldn’t it be your third time?” Aoi asked curiously. “The Officer’s Academy program is a three year program.”

“I didn’t complete my studies last year so I have to do another year,” Shiki answered. With that, he turned away, seemingly uninterested in continuing the conversation. It made Aoi remember that Shiki had stopped coming to class partway through the prior year, but Aoi had figured that he was continuing his education elsewhere. Aoi then watched in horror as Shiki began to doodle on his homework.

“I’m not sure how to answer this one,” Koki said to his partner, Makoto. The two of them knew each other previously, so they felt comfortable talking to each other. “If your enemy is wielding an axe and is on a horse, what weapon should you use?”

“Isn’t this like the scenario we discussed in class?” Makoto asked. If he wasn’t mistaken, it was the exact scenario their teacher proposed after Koki asked his question.

“It is similar, yes,” Koki said. “So does that mean that someone in this situation should use a sword?”

“If you want to be like the horse-killing guy then put that down as your answer,” Makoto said. “I think that the best choice would be an axe.”

“I guess that makes sense, I think that’s what I’ll say too,” Koki said. “It would be wise to use an axe because a sword would have a hard time reaching, and using a lance would mean a bad match-up against the axe.”

“Exactly,” Makoto said.

Ren felt too intimidated to start conversation with Dai, so the two of them worked on their homework in silence. Luckily, it really wasn’t difficult so Ren could fill it out with ease. Afterwards, he looked out the window, eagerly awaiting lunch so he could talk to his friend Soushi who was in the Azure Dragon House.

“Issa, you should work on the worksheet!” Futaba pleaded. His brother had not touched the worksheet yet, but was thankfully being helpful and answering Futaba’s questions.

“I’ll fill it out later,” Issa replied. His eyes were shut and his head was down, resting on the table. It seemed like he was going to take a nap.

“Is that all we’ll be doing in class today?” Rei asked Fumihiko. He had completed his worksheet quickly as he was a third-year student.

“Yes, you may go if you want to. Please remember to use your free time productively,” Fumihiko said.

“Of course,” With that, Rei left the classroom.

“Finally,” Arata said packing up his stuff to go. You followed in suit.

“I won’t be helping you with your homework later,” Aoi warned. The two of them paid him no mind and made plans to head to the dining hall.

Ren had completed his worksheet and wondered what he should do, maybe he should go to the training grounds and get some sword practice in. Just as he was making to do that, he heard Hajime tell Shiki, “I’m going to head to the training grounds for sword practice, do you want to join me?” Ren panicked, he wasn’t sure he was ready to be in the same area as Hajime after the embarrassment from earlier.

“Go on without me,” Shiki answered. Despite saying this he still packed up his things to leave.

“I’ll go with you,” Haruto said eagerly. He didn’t even bother packing up his things, he just picked up his sword and left with Hajime. Ren decided that he would go ahead and go to the greenhouse to kill some time until it was lunchtime. It wouldn’t be too long until he saw Soushi and got to tell him about the scary kid he sat next to and the embarrassment he faced.

XxX

Haru was glad that it was finally lunchtime, he was starving. This morning, Haru had a lot of trouble getting himself up and out of bed on-time, not to mention getting up Shun and making sure that he stayed up and got ready for class. “I hope we are having something good today. Please let it be someone good on cooking duty,” Haru prayed out-loud to himself.

“Oh poor Haru,” Shun said with a small sympathetic smile. “I told you that those born under the Lone Moon would have quite the unlucky day, did I not?”

“Even if it’s bad, I’ll still eat a lot,” Haru said not letting Shun deter him. Haru had a pretty unrefined palate, and he could stomach things that not many could.

“You won’t be saying that in a minute,” Shun promised. Haru could only wonder how bad it was going to be. The two made their way to the dining hall together and got in line. Haru didn’t see very many unsatisfied students and faculty, so it couldn’t have been as bad as Shun was trying to imply.

“I don’t know why you thought I wouldn’t be happy, Shun,” Haru said. “It seems like they had someone decent cooking today.” As soon as Haru finished saying that he got a whiff of the food being served. Shun grinned at him, looking like the cat that got the cream.

“It seems you realized… So you were saying?” Shun mocked easily. Haru groaned.

“Why are they serving spicy food on our first day of class?” Haru complained. Depending on who was in charge of cooking, the food at the academy varied quite a lot. Most students would cook basic meals that weren’t hard to prepare and serve, while some of the more advanced chefs would prepare tantalizing meals that had everybody coming back for seconds, and sometimes thirds.

“It seems like Hajime was the one on cooking duty today,” Shun said. “Maybe he knew something spicy would wake up all the sleepy students so they were more alert for class after lunch.”

“Or maybe he did it just to spite me,” Haru spit out. All of the returning students knew that there was some type of rivalry going on between Yayoi Haru of the Gepakku Empire and Mutsuki Hajime of the Kingdom of Akane. While the specifics weren’t known by most, quite a few students had seen the two of them competing during various tests and drills. Though it did seem a little one-sided.

When Haru and Shun came up to the front of the line, Haru began surveying his options for sides. Haru could see several choices for vegetables, and while they weren’t his favorite by themselves, that would make do. It might not be the satisfying meal he was hoping for, but at least he had food to eat.

After loading up their plates, with Shun making sure to look Haru in the eye as he took a piece of tantalizing, mouth-watering meat, the two headed for their usual table in the dining hall. Thankfully, none of the new students had occupied the table, whether it is because they heard rumors of the table belonging to the intimidating heir of the Empire, or it just being pure luck, no one will know.

The two sat down and started eating their food in relative silence. Occasionally one of them would make a comment about something, but otherwise it was pretty quiet. Halfway through their lunch, they were joined by Minaduki Rui and Kannaduki Iku.

“Uh, you don’t mind if we sit here, right?” Iku had made fast friends with Rui during class this morning, and was now worried about them offending their upperclassmen. Rui didn’t wait for a response and plopped down next to Shun.

“Ah, Iku and Rui, of course you can sit with us,” Shun said with a smile. “I enjoy having my serv-” Haru nudged him with his foot, “I mean fellow students,” Shun corrected, “close to me.”

“Okay then,” Iku said with a nervous laugh. If he was being completely honest, his upperclassmen were a little intimidating, Haru with his shady smile, and Shun with his incredible aura. Seeing as Rui was unaffected though, Iku was going to do his best to not let it get to him.

“I don’t know if we have to sit with our class, or if we’re allowed to sit anywhere,” a blond man with glasses said to his companion. Haru instantly recognized the two of them as Arihara Morihito and Nanase Nozomu.

“I think we can sit anywhere,” Nozomu said, looking around the room. To him, it seemed that several members of their class were sitting in different places around the room.

“Okay. Where should we sit?” Morihito asked Nozomu. The two of them found a place to sit at a table full of new students from all three different regions.

“They seem like they’re getting along okay,” Haru commented to Shun. As the two of them were third-years at the academy, they felt the need to look after the new students in the class. It was only their first day afterall. “How has your first day been, Iku, Rui?” Rui just shrugged at the question, not seeming at all phased by this mornings class.

“I felt like our lecture was very informative,” Iku said stiffly.

“There’s no reason to feel nervous, Iku,” Shun said. “You could tell us that you hated everything so far, and we wouldn’t care.” Iku wasn’t too sure about that but nodded. “So tell us how you really feel.”

“Um, well, I guess for the first day, I didn’t expect it to be so… intense,” Iku admitted. Haru nodded his head sagely.

“I remember my first year here I thought it was pretty overwhelming too,” Haru told the younger student. “All of a sudden you’re given a wealth of information and they move on so quickly. I’m pretty sure we had a test our second day of class!”

“Really?” Iku asked, a sense of panic in his voice.

“Yeah, but it was just to see where we were at as a whole, not really for a grade,” Haru said. “It seems like a lot at first, but you get used to it fairly quickly.”

“I see,” Iku said. Their conversation was interrupted by their attention being drawn to two of the other new students in their class. It seemed like they were arguing.

“Stop following me,” a light-haired, pink-eyed man said. He was Sakuraba Ryota, and the person allegedly following him was Hishida Mitsuru. The two knew each other before coming to the academy and had a track record of not getting along, yet somehow seemed to always be with each other.

“What is the deal with those two?” Iku found himself wondering aloud.

“They are both foreign exchange students,” Shun said. “Ryota is from Asagi, the Empire’s ally, and Mitsuru is from Seiran.”

“Didn’t the Empire go to war with Serian,” Iku asked. As a commoner, war outside of the country had less of an impact on him, so he wasn’t entirely sure if that was true or not.

“Yes, but when it ended four years ago, Mitsuru came to live in the Empire,” Shun said. Iku didn’t understand why he had come to live in the Empire and how he got into the academy, but figured that Shun would have told him if it was important.

“Shun!” a voice called. It belonged to their teacher, Dai. He came into the dining hall quickly.

“What is it, Dai?” Shun asked.

“Let’s gather up the class, it’s time for a practical,” Dai said, a serious look on his face.

“Today?” Haru asked, shocked.

“Quickly,” Dai urged. Shun seemed to understand the urgency and got up, looking around the room.

“Haru can you go fetch Gaku and Ruka?” he asked. “Rui, I need you and Iku to find Reiji. We’ll meet up in our classroom as soon as possible.” Haru nodded and went out of the dining hall.

“Let’s go, Iku,” Rui said, pulling on Iku’s arm. The seriousness of the situation gave little room for argument, and the two left in search of Reiji. Iku couldn’t really remember what the man looked like and had no clue of where he could be, but followed Rui, trusting his fellow student had a clue.

Rui lead Iku into the through the classroom hallways and out towards the training grounds. “Reiji mentioned that he was going to do some sparring during lunch,” Rui informed Iku. Had Shun knew that Rui remembered that information?

The two of them split up on the training ground, looking for their classmate. Iku stopped abruptly when he saw a beautiful man getting harassed by a soldier. He knew that he should continue looking for Reiji, but he couldn’t walk by someone in need.

“Will you knock it off,” the pale man said to the aggressor, “I need to train.”

“Oh please, we know that you just have that axe to look tough. You probably don’t even know how to use it. Why don’t we go and have some tea.” The man holding the axe looked like he had more than enough, and before he could do something rash, like show the man just how good with the axe he was, Iku cut in.

“Look, he said that he needed to train, so why not just let him be.” Iku didn’t have a weapon on him, but he would fight the guy hand-to-hand if it came to that.

“Ugh, why don’t you just beat it, you’re just a kid,” the soldier said.

“Why don’t you get some training in,” Iku said, still trying to diffuse the situation. He didn’t want to put the guy he was protecting in danger by further angering the soldier.

“I was fine on my own,” the axe-wielding man told Iku,”I can take care of myself.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to get in your business,” Iku said. The soldier seemed to find it too tedious to continue and limped away.

“Obviously I would have been able to take him out,” the stranger continued. “His leg was injured and he didn’t even have a weapon in his hands. If he had tried something, I would have been on him in an instant.” The man held up his axe as if to prove a point. Iku decided the best course of action would be to try to make a hasty retreat.

“Iku!” Rui said jogging over, “You found Ouka, I found Reiji,” As if on cue, Amaha Reiji walked up behind Rui and waved. The man was a bit sweaty.

“Wait, Ouka?” Iku asked. And then it hit him. The pretty man before him was Kira Ouka, an upperclassman in the White Tiger class. “Oh!”

“What’s going on?” Ouka asked, seeing the serious look on Reiji’s face. It was a bit unusual that underclassmen were asked to find them during lunchtime.

“There’s something going on. We need to meet in the classroom,” Reiji said in a serious tone. Ouka knew what that meant. They were going to head out on a mission.

“We’ll go together,” Rui said.

“What about the others?” Ouka asked.

“Shun will take care of it.” Iku didn’t know where Rui’s confidence in Shun came from. The four of them walked briskly to the classroom. Several of the students that had been in the dining hall were already there as well as a couple of other upperclassmen.

“Rikka, do you know what happened?” Ouka asked his upperclassman, Sera Rikka, as soon as they arrived.

“I think one of the villages outside of the church was attacked. The Knights are doing drills at Hijiri fields, so there are only a couple of people there now,” Rikka said.

“So we’re going?” Horimiya Eichi, a friend of Rikka’s, asked.

“I guess so,” Rikka replied. They waited anxiously for the other students to arrive. A few minutes passed, and Haru came in with Nadumi Ruka and Oguro Gaku.

“Is everyone here?” Dai asked, coming in with Shun.

“Not Tsubasa,” Rikka said. “He went into town to eat.” Rikka left out the fact that Tsubasa had went into town specifically to eat with some ladies.

“We’ll send a messenger, he’ll either meet us there or he’ll miss out. There’s no more time to wait.”

“So, what’s happening exactly?” Morihito asked nervously. He was hoping Rikka’s prediction would turn out to be wrong.

“Lecture is cancelled for the day. We have twenty minutes to gear up, and then we’re heading out to the village at the foot of the mountains,” Dai said. “There has been an attack there and it is more than the knights stationed there can handle. I volunteered our class to handle the rogues. This will be your first taste of real combat. I know it’s soon, but lives are at stake.” It took some time for the information to sink in.

“We’ll be… killing them?” Iku asked, stunned.

“It seems there is no other option. We’ll try to subdue them best we can without casualties, but it will be unlikely that they will surrender quietly. You are all members of the academy, and by extension the church, and we uphold the order. If that means that we have to take some lives to protect people, we will. Go get your equipment and meet at the Monastery entrance. You now have fifteen minutes!”

With that, they were all left to prepare themselves for the coming battle, both physically and mentally.


	3. Great Tree Moon, 1180 Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading. We hope that you are enjoying the story! Please let us know what you think!

Preparations for the coming battle were carried out quickly. The upperclassmen had gone on missions similar to this one, so they were not as perturbed as the underclassmen. Many of the underclassmen were able to prepare their equipment quickly, but signs showed how nervous they were.

“Morihito, you use a bow, right?” Eichi asked, gesturing to the bow Morihito had attached to his back.

“Yes!” Morihito answered promptly. He had seemed to be lost in thought before Eichi addressed him.

“I think it would probably be wise to bring arrows along,” Eichi said with a smile. Morihito checked his things and realized that he hadn’t gotten any arrows.

“I figured something like this might happen,” Gaku said. He opened up a bag full of supplies. “I grabbed some arrows from the armory.”

“Thank you so much,” Morihito said gratefully, taking the arrows. 

“Rui, Iku,” Shun called. “Did you two grab everything you needed?”

“Um, yeah!” Iku said. He wasn’t sure what else he would need besides his sword.

“I’m taking the tome you recommended,” Rui said. “Hopefully I can learn the spell before we get there.”

“Good boy,” Shun said, patting Rui’s head. Rui seemed to like the attention and pressed his head against Shun’s palm.

“I hope we can take care of this quickly,” Reiji said, cracking his neck. “I mean, it’s only the first day of class.”

“It is quite unusual,” Ruka commented.

“Why are the Knights of Tsukino all so far away from the monastery anyway?” Nozomu asked. “Shouldn’t there be a lot of knights around?”

“The first day of classes coincides with the end of recruitment,” Haru answered. “They usually run drills with the new recruits in Hijiri fields during the first few days of class. The monastery is usually pretty busy around that time and it gets confusing having a whole bunch of new people around. For the sake of the students, and for the benefit of the Knights, they do training in Hijiri field.”

“It really isn’t that far from the monastery though, so I don’t know why they didn’t have some of the Knights take care of the conflict,” Ouka said. Rikka nodded.

“That was what I found strange too,” Rikka said. The older students started to talk amongst themselves. Dai hadn’t arrived yet, so there was still some time until departure. Nozomu noticed two students had not really participated in the group discussion, so he went over to talk to them.

“So, are you guys scared?” Nozomu thought he remembered from lecture this morning that these two students were also first-year students.

“No, why would I be?” the one with light-colored hair responded.

“Aw, you’re totally scared,” the one with vibrant blue hair said.

“I’ve seen something worse than a group of bandits.”

“It’s okay,” the blue haired one said in a sickly sweet tone, “If you need someone to protect you, I’m here.”

“Sure, you can protect me just as well as you protected your home, right?”

“What did you say?” Nozomu didn’t realize what a can of worms his question would open. As he was backing away from the scene, Dai came in.

“Whew. Looks like at least most of you came,” Dai said. “If we’re missing any, they are just going to have to catch up. We march now.” Dai didn’t give them much more direction, instead he started to leave.

“Dai,” Shun said with a whine, “I don’t want to walk. Someone is going to have to carry me.” Haru suppressed a groan. He had been surprised with how agreeable Shun had been so far, but he was only delusional if he thought it would last.

“Shun,” Dai groaned. “No one here is going to carry you, you’re going to have to walk.”

“No,” Shun said firmly. “If I have to walk, I’m not going.”

“Fine,” Dai said giving in far too quickly.

“No?” Haru asked, “We are going to need him. I don’t know how many people we will be facing, or their skill level, but-”

“Ruka, fetch a horse,” Dai said. Ruka left without complaints to quickly go get what Dai needed.

“I don’t want to ride a horse, I want to be carried,” Shun said matter-of-factly.

“It doesn’t matter what you want right now, your options are to stay behind or ride the horse,” Dai said looking straight at Shun. After a staring contest that seemed to last for eternity, Shun relented with a sigh.

“Fine, but only if someone rides with me and leads the horse.”

“I’ll do it,” Gaku volunteered. Gaku took command of the steed Ruka returned with. He helped Shun up and took his position at the reigns.

“Now that everything is taken care of, we go,” Dai said, leading off the monastery grounds and down a mountain trail that would get them to the village.

“How far away is the village?” Morihito asked.

“Around twenty-five minutes at a brisk pace,” Haru replied. “With a group this small, movement shouldn’t be hindered at all. Especially since Shun is getting a ride.” Haru shuddered remembering a mission that had required a half-day walk.

“I hope Tsubasa gets the message,” Rikka said.

“Yeah, I would feel more confident with him here,” Eichi responded. He adjusted the weapon on his back.

“Is that a spear?” Nozomu asked. “I think it’s broken.” Eichi laughed.

“It’s not broken, and it’s not a spear, it’s a pole,” Eichi said. Nozomu nodded his head, and just went along with it, wondering how that was a pool.

“Have you memorized the incantation yet, Rui?” Shun asked the younger student from his seat on the horse. Shun was currently sitting side-saddle so he could watch Rui practice.

“Not yet, could you tell me the pronunciation of this part?” Rui asked. Iku started to tune out their conversation, magic wasn’t his strong suit.

The trip passed in relative silence. Many weren’t interested in making lighthearted conversation. There were some exceptions though, such as Ruka and Nozomu. The two of them were talking like old friends, with some input from Gaku every once in a while.

“We’re almost there, so I would like you guys to come up with a quick strategy, consider this a group quiz,” Dai said.

“A quiz!?” Nozomu exclaimed, dismayed. His alarm quickly changed into delight when he processed the whole statement. “We can have our upperclassmen help us. I’m saved!”

“Nozomu, we should definitely try to play our part as well,” Morihito said.

“Fufufu,” Shun laughed. “I say we just let the underclassmen handle it. I’m fine with whatever grade we get.” Several of the other students pulled a face. “But remember, dear juniors, not only are our grades at stake, but the villagers as well as our own lives!” Shun singsonged cheerily.

“Why don’t we give them a hand,” Rikka said. “I don’t want anyone’s lost life on my conscious.”

“Our first priority should be to save anyone we see in trouble,” Iku spoke up. “Property damage and stolen goods are bad, but they can be fixed and replaced.”

“That’s a good thought, Iku,” Eichi said. “I agree.”

“But what if the person in trouble is far away and there are a lot of enemies?” Rui asked quietly. “What if you have to charge through enemy lines to get there?”

“Then just leave it to your strong upperclassmen,” a new voice spoke up.

“Tsubasa!” Rikka exclaimed. “You made it.”

“Of course I did! I wouldn’t just leave my fellow classmates to deal with this on their own,” Tsubasa said. He swung a sword in front of him. “Look at this bad boy I picked up. A little heavier than I’m used to, but it was a lot faster to buy a sword in town than to head to the monastery and get mine.”

“That gives us a little more manpower,” Dai said. “So our first goal is to rescue the townspeople, material goods come second. Okay, so time to think about formation.”

“It wouldn’t be good to send people with all of the same skill set into one area, I know from experience,” Gaku said.

“We could split up into a few diverse groups, that way we have all weaknesses covered and we can take anything that comes at us!” Ruka said.

“I think I might be the only healer in the group,” Rikka said. “I’ll try to take care of any injured townspeople we see, but if you become injured, I will take care of you as well.”

“It may be a good idea to use one of the villagers homes as an infirmary of sorts. Rikka could be stationed there if there seems to be a lot of injuries,” Morihito suggested.

“I like that plan, so now we just have to divide into groups,” Tsubasa said. “I can lead some of the underclassmen,” as he said this, Tsubasa wrapped one arm around each of the pair that had been bickering earlier. “I’ll take Ryota and Mitsuru.”

“I love being in a group with him,” Mitsuru said sweetly.

“Likewise,” Ryota said with a fake smile.

“I wanna be in your group too,” Nozomu said. “We’ll charge right in!”

“Great,” Tsubasa said. “You can leave the frontlines to us.”

“Don’t you think you are taking too many underclassmen, especially if you are taking center?” Eichi questioned.

“I know we can handle it,” Tsubasa said, brushing off his concerns.

“It’s fine,” Shun said not really sounding like he cared about Eichi’s concerns. “I want a group too! Let’s see… I’ll take Gaku, obviously. I guess it’s more like he’s going to take me, but whatever… Oh, definitely Rui!”

“You’re our only two magic users, didn’t we decide on diversity?” Haru questioned.

“It’s fine,” Shun said once more. “I want Rui with me. I’ll teach him.” There was no arguing with Shun when he has already decided something, so Haru let it go. “Two more, let’s see. I’ll take Haru and Eichi!”

“I’ll lead the last group,” Reiji said. “It’ll be me, Ouka, Ruka, um, Morihito, and Iku, was it?”

“Well you have your plan,” Dai said. “I’ll give you your grade once the battle’s over. Can you hear the shouts? We are almost there, so ready your weapons.”

Iku gulped. The only time he had ever fought another person was when he had sparred. To be thrust into a battle so soon was nerve-racking. “It’ll be fine,” he whispered to himself, gripping his sword tightly. This wouldn’t be like sparring. He only had one chance to win. It was do or die. They entered the village sooner than Iku had expected and Reiji immediately lead his team towards the southside. It seemed like the upperclassmen had made some plans about who was going where.

“I’m glad we have Reiji to lead us,” Morihito said to Iku. The bow in his hands shook with how he was trembling. “It makes me feel a little more confident.” Iku nodded. He couldn’t find his voice to speak.

“Left!” Ouka yelled sharply, pulling both underclassmen to the side swiftly. A blade went down a few inches away. The beautiful man quickly countered with a speed Iku had not expected and brought his axe down on the man’s head, killing him quickly.

“There’s two people with bows up on the stairs,” Ruka shouted, locked in combat with a swordsman. “Iku, can you head over with Reiji and take care of them.” Iku spotted the archers easily and followed Reiji’s lead.

“If you stay behind me, you’ll be fine,” Reiji said confidently.

“What should I do?” Morihito said, looking at the fighting around him for direction. There were already dead bodies in the street and he felt a bit dizzy looking around.

“Watch out!” Ouka hissed, intercepting a blade. “If you are going to be useless then get off the field.” Ouka killed another rogue almost effortlessly. He then turned to Morihito. “Go see if you can assist Rikka with the injured. Head towards the building with the orange flag and red roof.” Ouka pointed. “Be careful!” Morihito nodded his head and set off in that direction.

“I can do this!” Morihito said to himself. “I at least have to do this.” He felt awful for letting his classmates down.

In the middle of town, Tsubasa lead his group to the square. “We haven’t really encountered any one… They must be concentrating their efforts on the edge of town… but that doesn’t really make any sense.”

“Maybe they have already seized control of the town,” Ryota said. “They could have most of the remaining townspeople holed up in one of the larger buildings. The rogues at the edge of town are probably just doing clean up.” Tsubasa was amazed at Ryota’s quick analysis.

“That means that the enemy probably has a stronghold. We can either wait for the others or take it down ourselves,” Mitsuru said.

“I say we take ‘em!” Nozomu cheered. “With our cool upperclassman, we definitely can do it!”

“Of course,” Tsubasa said confidently. “We’ll probably have to face a lot of enemies all at once though, so let me take the lead. I want you three to all keep rear. I don’t want you dying on your first mission.”

“Let’s go,” Ryota said. “I’ve been seeing movement in the windows of that building,” Ryota gestured towards town hall. “It’s likely their base.”

“I don’t know how many people we could be facing in there,” Tsubasa said.

“Are you getting nervous?” Mitsuru asked in a mocking tone, “Aren’t you supposed to be our cool upperclassman who is going to take care of all the bad guys?”  
  
“I’m just worried for your sake,” Tsubasa said quickly. “Let’s go.” Tsubasa took the lead. He secretly wished that his childhood friend Dai was there to provide him backup, but pushed that thought down as he headed towards town hall. “I’ll break down the door,” Tsubasa said. “Be ready, we will probably get attacked relentlessly once we’re in.”

“We’ve got this,” Nozomu said, lifting his lance. Mitsuru readied his own lance while Ryota pulled out his daggers. Tsubasa threw open the door, immediately raising his sword to block an attack. The enemy must have heard them outside already, so they did not have the element of surprise.

“Take this!” Tsubasa yelled, quickly spinning out of the block and stabbing his opponent. He had to immediately go back on the defense as another bandit was close behind. The three underclassmen that had came with did not hesitate in their attack.  
  
  


Ryota threw one of his daggers at an archer raising his bow. He didn’t know why someone would try to use a bow indoors, but he wasn’t going to leave the man around long enough to ask. Mitsuru blocked an attack meant for Nozomu and parried. Nozomu evaded another attack coming his way and helped Mitsuru fell the two enemies surrounding them.

“Three mages, three-o’clock!” Tsubasa shouted a warning to the underclassmen. In these close quarters, a mage could be very destructive. “I’ll head that way, watch your flanks!” Ryota heeded the warning and dodged a lance coming his way. Mitsuru pulled it out of the enemies hands, much to their surprise and slammed it into them. Ryota dealt the finishing blow. Nozomu took care of two swordsmen before they could reach him.

“I’m going to head downstairs!” Nozomu called. “I think that’s where they are keeping everyone!”

“Watch out!” Ryota called, throwing another dagger at an enemy hidden behind an armchair. They fell to the ground before they could hurt Nozomu.

“Ugh!” Mitsuru slumped to one side after getting hit with an axe. Ryota blocked the next swing with one of his daggers, but wasn’t strong enough to push the enemy away.

“You’re hurting my underclassmen? Now you’re really making me mad,” Tsubasa said stabbing through the enemy from behind. “I think that might be the last of them. Ryota take Mitsuru to get medical attention from Rikka, I’ll check on Nozomu and then make sure there is no one left.”

“Got it,” Ryota said. “Come on, you idiot.” The two of them left the building and headed towards where Rikka was giving care.

“It is not so bad. Are you worried about me, Ryota?” Mitsuru teased.

“No, I’m just following the orders I was given,” Ryota said flatly. The two went the rest of the way in silence.

At the northside of town, Shun was giving orders to his group. They had encountered several citizens being terrorized by bandits, and charged in to help. “Rui, now would be a good time to put that new spell to practice.” Even though Rui had never practiced the skill, he trusted that he would be able to pull it off.

“I’ll try to get around to the back so we can pull off a pincer attack,” Gaku said, steering the horse around. Gaku drew his sword and slashed at an enemy standing in their way, steering the horse around the narrow streets. This was not an ideal place to fight on a mount, but Shun had refused to get off.

“Eichi, let’s fight together,” Haru said. The two of them seemed to link up well and were able to coordinate their moves around each other decently well. Eichi would keep most enemies away from Haru so he could take them down one-by-one.

“Rui is using the dark magic very well,” Shun praised watching him from afar. Rui was situated behind Haru and Eichi and out of harm's way. “Gaku change course, I see the townspeople over by those trees,” Shun said.

“But what about the enemies here, are we going to leave Haru and Eichi to take care of them on their own?” Gaku asked, not wanting to leave his comrades.

“Rui’s with them too, and they will be fine. Besides, as a class we decided that we would prioritize the villagers safety. You don’t want to let your classmates down, do you?” Shun asked. Gaku agreed, still hesitant.

“Let’s go!” Gaku charged forward trampling over some of the town’s flower beds. Shun started casting magic from a distance away, determined to prevent harm from befalling the citizens. “I’ll get us between the bandits and the villagers, then I’ll fight on foot. Can you man the horse?”

“Yes,” Shun said. As soon as Gaku maneuvered around the trees, he dismounted and left the horse in Shun’s care. There were only a few bandits left, thanks to Shun’s talented magical ability. Gaku dodged an arrow and engaged the axe-wielder. There was a bit of a struggle, as the axe wielder was stronger than Gaku, but Gaku used his speed to make up for it and fell his foe.

Gaku and Shun made quick work of the remaining bandits and then turned to the villagers. “Are you alright?” Gaku asked.

“You saved our lives,” a woman said. “Thank you so much.” She noticed that Gaku had received an injury from a lance to the leg. “Oh my. I think I have a vulnerary, let me find it.”

“It’s okay, I’m fine,” Gaku said trying to reassure her. “I’ll receive medical attention later.”

“Nonsense, I insist that you have these.” The woman handed over five vulneraries. Gaku drank one due to her insistence.

“Let’s get back to the others and check the progress,” Shun said, mounting the horse. Gaku nodded and got on the mount as well.

XxX

“Is everyone here?” Dai asked. After the battles were over and the city deemed safe, the group gathered at the makeshift infirmary. It seemed like there were only a couple casualties and a few injuries.

“Yes,” Shun said.

“Good, I’m glad you all made it back safely,” Dai said. “You did great work out there today. I know that for some of you, it was your first real combat experience, and most of you handled it well.” He didn’t have to look at Morihito for said person to know that the most didn’t include him. “I’m ready to give you your grade.” He paused. “You are all getting full marks. I had high expectations and you met them well. We’ll pack up and leave in ten minutes. Dismissed!” With that Dai left no room for discussions and went off to find the mayor.

“Good job everyone, we’ll celebrate back at the monastery,” Shun said with a smile.

“Woo hoo!” Tsubasa shouted. “I hope someone cooks us a big dinner. I think most of us didn’t get to finish lunch.”

“I hope it’s not something spicy,” Haru said.

“Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll taste extra good,” Eichi said. “Victory always does after all.” They all packed up their belongings with smiles on their faces. Well. All of them except for one.

“I’ll have to train harder,” Morihito said picking up his bow. “I need to get stronger.”

XxX

Kanade quickly made his way to the training grounds, he was running a little behind. There had been news of an attack on a nearby village and he had been trying to figure out what was going on. When he arrived at the grounds, he was thankful to see that his students were already there, and, as a bonus, many of them were already practicing.

“Hello everyone, I’m sorry I’m late!” Kanade called. “Could everyone please gather up?” Unfortunately, it seemed Kanade’s voice wasn’t loud enough to be heard over the combat. “Everyone!” He tried again to no avail.

“Heya Kanade!” Roa called walking over. This caught the attention of several of the students who were not locked in combat.

“Hi Roa, I’m sorry that I’m late,” Kanade apologized again.

“It’s totally fine, don’t worry about it, we figured maybe it was just a student-only practice session,” Roa said.

“I’m glad about that, but I really wish that they weren’t practicing so intensely, I’m trying to get their attention, but I can’t,” Kanade explained.

“I’d say let them keep practicing then,” Takaaki said. “What’s the point of interrupting them if they are making good progress.”

“I suppose you have a point,” Kanade relented. “Okay, then I’ll just instruct whoever isn’t busy. Roa why don’t you get started with target practice, and Takaaki I hear that your riding skills could use some work.”

“Got it!” Roa said cheerfully heading to the small archery range set up.

“Do I have too?” Takaaki groaned. “The stables are on the other side of the school. Not only that, but the wyverns are mean.”

“That’s just because they aren’t used to you, I’m sure they’ll warm up if you just keep trying,” Kanade said. Takaaki seemed to realize that there was no room for argument, so he left the training grounds, hopefully headed towards the stables.

“Can I go too?” Koi piped up.

“I didn’t know that you had an interest in wyvern riding. Ask Takaaki to help you out, and if you have any trouble, come back here and let me know,” Kanade said. Koi gave a fist pump and a wave to Kakeru before running off towards the stables.

“Shu, why don’t you practice sword play with, um,” Kanade trailed off. He wasn’t sure if anyone other than Shu practiced swordplay. He looked around trying to see if any of the newest students were carrying a sword. “Kensuke.”

“M-me!” Kensuke cried surprised. “I’m not too great with a sword.”

“Then you’ll definitely learn some new techniques,” Kanade responded. “Ichiru, Nao, I want you two to practice hand to hand combat.” The two grinned at each other. It seemed that they were already becoming friends.

After assigning all those students only Issei and Yoru remained in front of him. “The two of you practice faith magic right?” He got nods in response. “I’ll practice directly with you then. Can you tell me what magic you have learned?”

“I only know Heal,” Issei said sheepishly.

“I know Heal and Recover,” Yoru said.

“I’m glad both of you have the basic Heal spell down. I think it would be good to start trying to learn Physic,” Kanade said. “Is that spell familiar to either of you?”

“I think it’s a healing spell that works long range, right?” Yoru asked.

“That’s exactly correct, it might not be as powerful as some other spells, but it is an important one to master since healers typically stay away from the front lines.”

“Aren’t there offensive Faith spells too?” Issei asked.

“You mean like Nosferatu? Yes, but those are a bit harder so we’ll save that for another time. For now let’s try to learn Physic,” Kanade said. “I’ll give you a demonstration.” Kanade chanted the incantation and allowed the magic to flow out of his hand and into a practice dummy situated a couple yards away.

“Is that as far as it can go?” Issei asked. He was expecting something more impressive. If that was the range of the spell from someone like their professor, he hardly thought that it could be of use.

“No, I just wanted you to be able to see the effects,” Kanade responded. “I’ve practiced the spell for so long now, I could probably reach the stables if I wanted too. The longer you send the spell though, the more taxing it is for your body, so you better be careful.”

“Actually, I’ve been trying to learn this spell on my own for a while now, but I really couldn’t get it down,” Yoru admitted. “I can cast it, but when I try to send it away it falls flat.”

“Can you show me?” Kanade asked. He watched as Yoru said the incantation and allowed the magic to flow to his fingertips. When he tried to send it off, it did indeed fall flat. It fell straight on the ground. “I see. I think that it is just something you aren’t used to and with practice you’ll get it down. Why don’t you try using a target to send your magic too.”

“A target,” Yoru muttered. “Why didn’t I think of that. I think I’ll try to use that practice dummy!” With that, Yoru made his way to the wooden person look-alike.

“Could you repeat the incantation for me?” Issei asked. Kanade was happy to oblige.

On the other side of the training grounds, Sora and Soushi were having an argument. “It’s not fair, you always beat me!” Sora whined. He was unhappy that he hadn’t beat Soushi in a sparring match for what felt like years.

“Maybe you should choose a different weapon,” Soushi responded.

“I could help you out if you wanted to learn the ways of a lance,” Kai piped up. He had been practicing his footwork, but had stopped a while back to watch the childhood friend’s match.

“I don’t want to use a different weapon. I like daggers!” Sora said with a pout. This caused Soushi to chuckle and shake his head. His friend never changed. He reached out a hand to help Sora off the ground where he had knocked him with a swing of the wooden practice axe.

“Let’s go again then,” Soushi said, not done.

“Why don’t you give Sora a break and take me on,” Kai said.

“You use a lance don’t you?” Sora asked. “Didn’t we learn this morning that axes are good against lances? You have the disadvantage, right? So why did you challenge him?”

“One question at a time,” Kai laughed. “You remind me of my little siblings, so curious. Let’s just consider this a test, okay.” He grabbed his spear and stood across from Soushi.

Sora watched as the two of them sized each other up for several minutes. He wanted to just yell at them to make the first move, but he was curious to see if Kai could beat Soushi. Finally, Kai moved first, lunging at Soushi, stabbing his spear forward.

Soushi blocked it with ease and swung his axe immediately after, hoping to catch Kai off guard. Unfortunately, Kai rolled away and by the time Soushi’s axe hit the ground, Kai’s spear was at Soushi’s neck. “I yield,” Soushi said. Kai allowed his weapon to fall.

“Wow! You did that so easily. See you’re not that great Soushi!” Sora gloated as though the victory had been his own.

“Yeah, yeah,” Soushi was amazed by how quickly Kai had won. He really only ever sparred with Sora, so he was used to winning every fight.

“Do you know why I won?” Kai asked Sora. The younger male shook his head. “It’s because there are different advantages and disadvantages for every weapon.” Sora still looked confused. “Remember when you asked me why I challenged Soushi despite knowing that axes had the advantage over lances?”

“Yeah,” Sora said.

“I’ve been practicing with a lance for a long time, so I have learned to counter my weakness, which is foes with axes. It takes waiting for the right opening,” Kai explained. “I knew that I had no chance hitting him outright, so I needed his guard to be down. That happened when I dodged an attack.”

“Oh!” Sora said. He suddenly grew excited. “I guess now even I will have no trouble beating Soushi!”

“I don’t know about that,” Soushi said. “You might want to work on your aim.”

“My aim isn't that bad,” Sora said.

“Actually, you miss eight out of ten throws,” A new voice interjected. “I don’t think that would be considered good aim.”

“Hey, Ayumu, need a sparring partner?” Kai asked.

“No, I was actually taking a bit of a break,” Ayumu said. He honestly was on his way out of the training grounds to head to the dining hall while no one was there, that way he could see if there were any sweet treats around.

“See Sora, you need to work on your aim,” Soushi said triumphantly. Sora seemed to think this was a good idea as he headed towards the archery range. Soushi headed with him thinking that Sora would probably need some moral support.

When Sora got over there he saw Yuma was practicing throwing daggers as well so he decided to start a competition. “I’m glad that the younger ones are having fun,” Kai commented, watching the behavior with a smile.

“I guess,” Ayumu said, not really seeing why it was a big deal.

“Apparently the White Tiger house got sent out to take care of some bandits,” Kai said. Ayumu’s eyes widened upon hearing this.

“It’s the first day of class,” He said.

“I know, times sure are changing,” Kai said.

“What do you think it means?” Ayumu asked. He felt like there was something that the upperclassman was hinting at, but he couldn’t figure it out.

“I’m not sure,” Kai said with a shrug. “We should get practicing though, that could be us next.” With that, he went to go get some hits on a practice dummy since no sparring partners were available.

“Way to ruin my mood for sweets,” Ayumu mumbled, frowning. He decided to make his way to the dining hall anyway. He had really worked up an appetite after several hours of combat training.

Once he was there, he was happy to see that the dining hall wasn’t occupied by anyone except for two people who were having a pretty intense conversation. Something about finding cuties. He wasn’t sure why they would have trouble, cats roamed all over the Shikokku Monastery.

He was happy to see that someone had made cookies and they were sitting out, just calling his name. He grabbed a plate and put several on it, heading to a table away from the two gossipers.

Sitting down, he was left alone in bliss with his thoughts. Unfortunately, his thoughts damped his mood. He wondered how the White Tiger class was faring with their mission. He really wished that he could’ve got Kai to talk to him more. Just thinking about the odd look on his senior’s face made him upset.

“Why are you biting into that cookie like it wronged you?” He heard suddenly. He didn’t think anyone would address him, so his head shot up from looking at his plate. Right in front of him was Amaha Reiji.

“You’re back,” Ayumu said plainly.

“So you heard about our mission then?” Reiji asked.

“Someone might’ve mentioned it,” Ayumu said feigning disinterest. He looked back down at his plate of cookies. He really should’ve grabbed more than three. He only had one left, and they were so good.

“Did you worry about me?” Reiji asked in a teasing tone. Ayumu was about to correct him and deny worrying, but Reiji reached over and took his last cookie.

“I was going to eat that,” Ayumu said angrily.

“And you can get more,” Reiji pointed out.

“You could’ve also went and got your own,” Ayumu retorted.

“Yeah, you’re right, sorry, I’ll make it up to you next time,” Reiji said, popping the rest of the cookie in his mouth. “Were you at the training grounds before coming here?”

“Why are you asking?” Ayumu asked defensively.

“Just curious,” Reiji shrugged.

“I was,” Ayumu answered. The two sat in silence for a while. Ayumu was just about to get up and leave when Reiji got up before he could.

“Well I guess I’ll get going then, remember to eat something besides sweets,” Were Reiji’s parting words before he left. Ayumu watched him leave, having no intention of actually listening to him. He couldn’t understand why Reiji felt the need to tell him what to do. 

He was thankful that he saw Reiji and the upperclassman hadn’t told him that something bad happened when his class dealt with the bandits. Maybe there was nothing to worry about in the first place. With that thought, Ayumu grabbed another cookie before heading back to the training grounds.

If something did come up that his class had to deal with, he would make sure that they didn’t have any bad news to report either.


	4. Harpstring Moon, 1180

“How was your first month?” Fumihiko inquired from his students. He got various answers ranging from a grunt, Dai, one syllable, Arata, to a full play-by-play, Futaba.

“And then I told Issa that he should study more if he wants to do better on his exam. Issa told me that studying doesn’t really help him much, since he already knows as much as he needs to and he doesn’t need some dumb guy with no combat experience lecturing him everyday, so I said-”

“Futaba,” Issa hissed. “Shut up. I’m trying to sleep.”

“I’ll have you know that I have _plenty_ of combat experience,” Fumihiko said indignantly. “But, putting that aside-”

“‘Issa you sleep all day in class! You probably don’t even know what he talked about today!’ I cried, and then Issa responded, ‘Of course I do, it was probably the weapon triangle.’ I didn’t know what to say after that, because he was right.” While everyone found it amusing how in character Futaba got, recreating a scene that supposedly happened four nights prior, they had things to do.

“Okay!” Fumihiko shouted with a clap, finally bringing Futaba out of his flashback. “We have a mission. I’m sure you guys have heard some of the details, but we march tomorrow.”

“I’m going to assume this is related to the unrest in Kikyo?” Rei said, ahead of the game like usual. “They have been crossing the border recently and attacking villages and merchants.”

“That is correct,” Fumihiko said. “The church has decided to help out in quashing the attack. We’ll be going as backup to one of the villages that has been attacked. Our job will be to get rid of any of the remaining forces, and assist in the rebuilding.”

“Assist in the rebuilding?” Ren asked. “Why would we do something like that?”

“Do you not want to help people in need?” Shou asked.

“No! That’s not what I meant, I just…” Ren didn’t know how to explain himself properly without sounding like he didn’t care.

“It’s not the type of labor we signed up for,” Shiki said. “We are here to learn military strategy and gain training in that field. Not to clear rubble and repair houses.”

“It isn’t the sort of thing we would usually do, but Count Onoda has requested aid,” Fumihiko said.

“We haven’t had the best harvests this year,” Shou said sadly. “Getting people to help rebuild the towns that have been pillaged has been tough.”

“Your father is Count Onoda, correct?” Hajime asked, wanting to clarify for everyone’s sake. Several of his classmates had seemed confused when Shou jumped in to give his thoughts.

“Yes,” Shou confirmed.

“I’m so sorry!” Ren exclaimed. “I really didn’t mean anything bad by what I said earlier.”

“It’s fine, I understand,” Shou said.

“So, it sounds like we may or may not be fighting,” Hajime said.

“That’s correct,” Fumihiko replied. “We haven’t gotten any updates for a few days, but from what we had last heard, the local military forces had driven off the invaders.”

“I was hoping we would get our first battle,” Haruto said, sounding disappointed. “The White Tiger house has already gotten to go on a combat mission.”

“Didn’t they go on the first day of class?” Aoi asked. “That must have been pretty rough.”

“We only went on four combat missions last year,” Arata said. “They were all pretty boring though.”  
  
“I hope we won’t have to go on many this year,” Koki said. Makoto nodded his head in agreement.

“It usually isn’t that bad. If it’s a real fight we will have the Knights of Tsukino as backup,” You said. “They take all the fun parts.”

“The Knights will be going with us, so if trouble does arise, we will have backup,” Fumihiko said. “Tomorrow we will depart at eight in the morning, and we will meet at the front gates.”

“What do when need to bring?” Ren asked. He didn’t want to bring his textbook if he didn’t need it, but they had needed it everyday of lecture thus far despite what Dai had told him on the first day of class.

“You will be tasked with bringing a weapon or two and some light armor,” Fumihiko said. “If the need arises, vulneraries and healers will be available.” Koki raised his hand. “Yes, Koki?”

“If we use magic, will we be required to bring a physical weapon?” Koki asked.

“Of course not!” You exclaimed, answering before Fumihiko. “What use would you be if you brought a lance you didn’t even know how to use?”

“You!” Aoi scolded, “He was just asking.”

“He takes everything way too literally,” You complained.

“I’m sorry,” Koki said. Makoto put a comforting hand on Koki’s arm.

“Something to keep in mind,” Fumihiko said, “It will be a _long_ journey, so wear comfortable shoes.”

“Do you remember how You wore those new shoes last year?” Arata asked. “And he complained the whole way to Tottori plains?”

“Oh yeah!” Aoi said. “He tried to act tough like it wasn’t bothering him, but then they started cutting his feet really bad and he started crying!”

“Shut up!” You yelled. “Do we really need to talk about this? Let’s just get on with today’s class.”

“Alright,” Fumihiko said, taking pity on You. “We’ll begin today’s lecture. First we’ll talk more in depth about our plans for travel, and then we’ll do a review lesson on the weapon triangle.” He heard a few groans.

“We talk about this every week!” Issa groaned, laying his head down on the table for a nap.

“I’ll probably just head out to the training grounds once he starts,” Haruto said.

“There will be no skipping class!” Fumihiko said. “Now, our journey will take about three days to complete…”

XxX

“The new students seem like they are adjusting well,” Rikka said to his companion, Tsubasa. They were eating dinner in the dining hall. Tsubasa’s friend Dai was joining them as well. He hadn’t said a word to Rikka though, and just whispered to Tsubasa who apologized profusely for the bad behavior.

“I don’t know if I would say that about all of them,” Tsubasa said. “That Morihito guy doesn’t seem like he is okay after that mission last month.” Dai leaned close to Tsubasa, Rikka could only guess that he was asking who Morihito was. His suspicions were confirmed when Tsubasa looked around the dining hall and then pointed to Morihito.

“I think that their studies are going well though,” Rikka insisted.

“Yeah, they have definitely gotten better,” Tsubasa agreed. “Still, I hope it is a couple months before they have to see real combat again.” Once again, Dai leaned close to Tsubasa and whispered something. Rikka could make out that he had said something about a face. “You tell him, Dai-chan!”

“What did you want to tell me, Dai-chan?” Rikka asked.

“Don’t call me that,” Dai finally spoke to him. “I’m finished.” With that, he got up with his plates and took them to the dish counter.

“He wanted to tell you that you had food on your face,” Tsubasa said. He reached over to get the food off of Rikka’s face.

“Why doesn’t he want to talk to me?” Rikka asked. Tsubasa just shrugged. The two of them continued to eat their stewed tomatoes and beef. Yoru from the Mokuran Alliance had cooked, and the meal was delicious.

“You two, I have news,” Eichi said joining them at the table.

“What is it?” Tsubasa asked hoping for gossip.

“Tell us,” Rikka said, having the same feelings as Tsubasa.

“We are going on a mission tomorrow,” Eichi answered.

“Another mission? Already?” Rikka asked. “And why us again?”

“The Kingdom of Akane had some problem that their students went to deal with and I guess the Mokuran Alliance students aren’t ready for combat?” He phrased the last bit like a question.

“I don’t think they aren’t ready, I think it probably is because the mission takes place near the Empire,” Ruka chipped in.

“Ruka, were you eavesdropping?” Rikka teased.

“Where does the mission take place?” Tsubasa asked.

“Near the Western Church. Apparently they are raising an army,” Ruka said.

“That’s just a rumor though,” Gaku said appearing next to Ruka. The two of them sat down with their own plates of food. “We overheard some Knights of Tsukino talking about it at the training grounds.”

“Man, you guys stay at the training grounds forever,” Tsubasa said. The Gepakku Empire had combat training that ended two hours prior, but some students stayed behind.

“Says the guy who was at the training grounds all weekend,” Ruka shot back.

“It kind of worries me that the Western Church would be raising an army,” Rikka said. “What purpose would they have to do so?”

“Right,” Eichi agreed. “And we’re being sent to deal with it, so that means they are going against the main church.”

“I sometimes forget that the Academy is a church,” Ruka said. He took a bite of his food, “Woah, this is delicious!” After that remark, he began to eat at a ravenous pace. “I’m going to get seconds!”

“I think that I’m going to go,” Tsubasa said, clearly grossed out by Ruka’s display. He took his dishes to the counter and set them down. Not wanting to return to his room, he decided to walk around the Monastery.

He briefly entertained the idea of going to the training grounds, but decided that was a bad idea since it would only make him tired for the mission the next day. He then thought about going to see Dai-chan, but figured the younger male would be studying as he had a mission coming up tomorrow as well.

While he was pondering what he should do he bumped into someone. “Sor-” He cut his apology short. “You.” In front of him was a guy that has been getting on his nerves for a while. It was none other than the crown prince of the Kingdom of Akane, Takamura Shiki.

“You really should watch where you are going,” Shiki said. He then went to move around Tsubasa, but the other male moved in his way.

“I think it was you who bumped into me.” Tsubasa really wasn’t too sure why everything Shiki did pissed him off, but it did. “Don’t you have something that you want to say?”

“I believe I said everything that I needed to,” Shiki said trying to walk around Tsubasa again only to be stopped. “Will you get out of my way?”

“Is that how you should treat other people, I don’t think you’ll be a very popular king if you act like that,” Tsubasa mocked. “Seriously, you rammed into me, and I think I deserve an apology, your highness.”  
  
  


“I thought I bumped you, now you’re saying ‘rammed into you’? I think that you’re just seeking attention, go get it elsewhere,” Shiki said.

“Seeking attention? More like seeking an apology, seriously how hard is it?” Tsubasa asked. He was furious, if he had been in the wrong he would have apologized.

“Can you two have your pointless fight elsewhere?” Takaaki asked. He was used to seeing the two of them fight, they had been at each other’s throats since the first year Tsubasa joined the academy.

“Once he lets me leave,” Shiki said.

“Once he apologies,” Tsubasa said.

“I guess I’ll play mother just this once,” Takaaki said with a sigh. “Shiki apologize to Tsubasa, and Tsubasa, you need to apologize too.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong, he was the one who bumped into me,” Shiki pointed out.

“You’re mistaken, you rammed into me!” Tsubasa cried.

“Enough, I told you what needs done, do you guys want to be grounded?” Takaaki asked.

“I’m sorry, Tsubasa,” Shiki said, clearly being sarcastic.

“That wasn’t a good apology!” Tsubasa said. “Make him do it again.”

“I think you should apologize first,” Shiki said.

“I’m sorry,” Tsubasa said, equally as sarcastic as Shiki was.

“That’s unacceptable. If both of you don’t make up, I’m going to tell Archbishop Mikoto,” Takaaki threatened.

“I’m sorry, darling,” Tsubasa said, sickeningly sweet.

“I’m sorry too, honey,” Shiki replied in the same tone.

“Good, now get to bed, or mommy will be mad,” Takaaki said before leaving.

“I’m not sorry,” Tsubasa said after the other man was gone.

“Neither am I,” Shiki said. As Shiki walked past Tsubasa he knocked their shoulders together. That made Tsubasa even more furious than he already was, but he decided to let it go because he had a mission he needed to prepare for.

It seemed that everyone in the White Tiger class was busy preparing for the mission that night. As Tsubasa made it into his dorm room, there was quite a bit of hustle and bustle in the dormitories.

“Has anyone seen my sword?” Haru was asking around. Tsubasa wondered how someone misplaced their weapon like that. “Tsubasa, please tell me you picked up my sword in the training grounds.”

“Sorry, but if you lost it in the training grounds, it’s likely that one of the Vermillion Bird students picked it up, they are always there,” Tsubasa said patting Haru on the shoulder, he might never see that sword again.

“I bet it was Hajime,” Haru growled. Tsubasa was glad that he wasn’t the only one with a rivalry in the Vermillion Bird house. The blond stormed off and went into a room that was definitely not his own.

Tsubasa went to his own room to gather his things. Once he got all packed up, he decided to blow out the candle, and go to bed. It was going to be difficult to sleep with all the ruckus, but he would somehow manage.

XxX

The Geppaku Empire students met the next day in their classroom at eight o’clock. Normally they would have a lecture, but today they were getting quickly briefed before their mission. “I think the news spread to everyone, but in case it didn’t. Yes, we have a mission today, and yes, the mission is to deal with the Western Church,” Dai said when all the students arrived.

“Wait, we have a mission?” Nozomu asked, confused.

“Yes, go get your equipment,” Dai said, dismissing him. Nozomu quickly ran out to get his stuff. “It’ll take three days to get there so we’re going to have a lot of travel time, and only a little battle time.”

“Aww!” Shun pouted loudly.

“When are we leaving?” Ouka asked.

“As soon as Nozomu gets back,” Dai answered. “We’ll head to the area and deal with whatever army they have. There will be a portion of the Knights of Tsukino going with us, so we won’t have to face the whole army ourselves.”

“Why is the Western Church going against us?” Reiji asked.

“Most likely, it is just because they want to be the church with all of the authority,” Dai said. “This happens from time to time. It really isn’t a big deal, but it is good combat experience for you guys.”

“I’m back!” Nozomu cried.

“Let’s head out then!” Dai commanded. Gaku, unfortunately was stuck with Shun on his horse again. Nozomu had been practicing his riding, but he wasn’t very good at it, so Shun was riding with Gaku.

“Will we be camping tonight?” Ryota asked.

“Yes,” Eichi said. “I love it when we get to camp. Sometimes, I camp out at the school grounds because it’s so much fun.”

“I see,” Ryota didn’t look too pleased by the news.

“I didn’t bring a sleeping bag,” Rui piped up. “I guess I’ll have to share Ikkun’s!” It almost sounded like he had planned it that way.

“I guess so,” Iku said with a nervous laugh, he watched Shun carefully to make sure it was okay. After spending some time at the school, he had realized that Shun was almost like a parent to Rui. When he saw that there seemed to be no problem, he relaxed.

“So what should we do?” Ruka asked. “Maybe we could sing to pass the time?” Most of the group looked dismayed by his suggestion.

  
“Sing? Why would we do that?” Ouka asked.

“It’s fun and easy enough for anyone to do,” Ruka replied.

“That’s easy for you to say, your mom was an opera singer,” Reiji pointed out.

“Well, it doesn’t matter if it’s good or not,” Ruka said cheerfully. “So what songs do you guys want to sing?”

“The wheels on the carriage?” Rikka suggested, not knowing many songs.

“That’s a song for babies isn’t it,” Mitsuru asked. He hadn’t lived in Mushiki for long, but he thought he had heard of that song.”

“You would know that song, wouldn’t you?” Ryota asked.

“You obviously know it too. Besides I just heard it when riding in a carriage with a woman and some school children back in the capital, Hanazono,” Mitsuru replied.

“Why don’t we sing something more exciting. Oh, I know what about Arcana Journey?” Ruka asked. That was the song that got his mother and Gaku’s mother a lot of fame at the opera house. “Sing with me Gakkun!”

“Ruu,” Gaku said, embarrassed. When Ruka started singing, he couldn’t help but join in though. Thankfully, singing made the trip go by quickly and before they knew it, they were stopping for the day.

“I’ll make dinner,” Haru said. He wanted to do something that would make him seem like the reliable upperclassmen. Eichi helped him make the fire and then he began looking through the foodstuffs they had brought. 

He didn’t really know any recipes, so he thought that he would make up something. He grabbed what he thought were cucumbers and put them in a pot of water. He remembered that last night, the stew was a big hit so he wanted to imitate it.

“Can you help me with my tent, Eichi?” Nozomu asked. He was supposed to be setting it up with Morihito, but his friend had been out of it all day, and was just sitting by the fire watching Haru cook.

“No problem,” Eichi said. He put up the tent faster than Nozomu could blink. Eichi really must have a lot of practice camping. Dai said that he would patrol the perimeter so the students were all relaxing as they waited for dinner.

“Haru, how much longer,” Shun asked. “I’m hungry now.”

“Not too much longer,” Haru said. While he had been cooking, he had added to the cucumbers. Haru found that they had some sort of red berries and also some meat. He had added them both to the pot as well as some green leafy things. He would say his soup was quite colorful.

Within minutes, dinner was finished and Haru dished everyone up some bowls. Dai had come back to join them for supper. The first one to take a bite was Ouka, who spit it out almost right away. This made some of the others who had noticed, weary to take a bite.

“Haru, what is this dish?” Rikka asked after choking down a few spoonfuls.

“Just something I came up with, pretty tasty, right?” Haru asked. He had already had several bites and was giving himself a mental pat on the back, it was really good. It had a really fresh taste.

“Um, yeah,” Rikka replied, he continued eating at a slow pace.

“Why is it so minty?” Reiji asked.

“Probably because of the mint leaves,” Iku said lifting one out of his bowl with his spoon. He wasn’t sure that it was common to cook with mint that way, but he was hungry so he wouldn’t complain.

“I feel like zucchini, cranberries, chicken, and mint wouldn’t be something most people put together,” Morihito said. Nozomu perked up when he heard his friends comment.

“I think it tastes good,” Nozomu said. He wouldn’t actually call it good, but it was edible. The rest of the night, everyone was in sort of a bad mood due to the lackluster dinner, but they were all settling down okay. 

Nozomu figured he didn’t have to brush his teeth due to all the mint in his dinner, but he had been corrected by Tsubasa. Just as they all were drifting off, a scream was heard. Dai was the first one to get a light on and start checking tents. It was in Ryota and Mitsuru’s tent that he identified a problem.

“What’s going on?” Dai asked. He saw that Ryota was cowering in the corner while Mitsuru looked smug.

“There was one of _them_ in here,” Ryota said.

“One of what?” Dai asked concerned. 

“A bug,” Mitsuru said with a laugh. “It’s gone now though.”

“No it isn’t, you’re holding it!” Ryota screeched.

“Let’s not play around like this and get to bed,” Dai said. Mitsuru pouted, but released a cricket outside the tent. “Ryota, you’ll have to get over that fear of bugs.”

“Okay.” With that they were all able to go back to bed. Thankfully, the rest of the march was rather uneventful and they had made it to the battlefield with the Western Church. The Knights of Tsukino were already there battling.

“It looks like there are a lot of mages, so watch out for that,” Dai briefed. “I’ll let you guys decide your own battle strategy.”

“Why don’t we go in groups again,” Reiji suggested.

“I think we should let the underclassmen lead this one,” Shun suggested.

“Shun, I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Ouka said. “They have only had one battle.”

“Morihito, what do you think we should do?” Shun asked, ignoring Ouka.

“I don’t know,” Morihito said while looking at the ground. “I think groups would be a good idea. Maybe someone that can attack the mages from afar in each group.”

“Good idea,” Tsubasa said, trying to be encouraging.

“Let’s do three groups again,” Nozomu said. “With a bow or magic person in each group.”

“Mages aren’t really weak to magic though,” Rui pointed out.

“But isn’t Morihito the only one to use a bow?” Iku asked.

“I guess that is an area we can work on when we get back,” Tsubasa said. Did they not realize that the were destroying whatever confidence Morihito had left?

“I use daggers,” Ryota said quietly. “I can’t throw them as far as someone could shoot an arrow, but I still can attack long range.”

“I’m also pretty good at throwing axes,” Ouka said confidently.

“I didn’t realize you brought any shortaxes,” Reiji said.

“I didn’t. I can throw any axe,” Ouka said.

“Well, how about three groups then,” Rikka decided.

“Sounds good,” Gaku said. The groups were quickly decided and the class joined the fray. Gaku had joined Ruka, Nozomu, Mitsuru, and Ryota. He was thankful that he didn’t have to cart Shun around on his horse. In Ouka’s group was Shun, Haru, Tsubasa, and Reiji. Lastly, in Morihito’s group was Rui, Iku, and Eichi. Rikka was going to trail after Morihito’s group though, as there wasn’t anywhere to set up a camp.

“Let’s get the guys on the south side,” Eichi suggested. He knew that he would have to do most of the work because he was with the underclassmen. He really wished that Tsubasa had went instead of him, but he would do his best.

“Okay,” Iku agreed. He saw that there weren’t as many enemy soldiers on the south side, so he was a bit relieved. He wasn’t too worried about battling with this group though because he had seen the damage Rui’s magic could cause.

“I’ll get the jump on them,” Rui said. He then summoned a meteor from the sky hitting several soldiers in the area. The rest of the group was in awe of how powerful Rui was. “Okay, I’m done for a while.”

Rikka couldn’t blame Rui for being tired after an attack like that. He watched as Iku and Eichi rushed into the fray while Morihito stayed behind. Morihito’s hands were shaking really badly, but he still raised his bow.

“You’ve got this,” Rikka said. He hoped the bit of encouragement would get Morihito to act, but the underclassman still hadn’t taken the shot. While watching Morihito, he noticed movement nearby. Acting fast, he quickly pushed Morihito out of the way. The blade that had been poised to take Morihito down, cut into Rikka who cried out in pain.

“Rikka!” Morihito cried. Gathering all of the strength he could muster, he drew his bow and shot at the enemy soldier. Luckily he shot true, and the arrow pierced the enemy’s chest, and took him down. He quickly rushed to Rikka’s side.

“I know a little Faith magic,” Rui said. He began healing Rikka, but he couldn’t do much due to the fact he was not practiced, and weak from the earlier magic attack.

When Iku saw what had happened, he rushed over with a vulnerary, “Here, for Rikka.” He then quickly went back to help Eichi out, since he was getting overwhelmed.

Thankfully, a war cry was heard, and Reiji came charging over. The rest of his group joined. “We finished the soldiers up there pretty fast,” Shun said. “They thought they were safe in the forest, but they weren’t.” Morihito looked over to see that the entire forest was on fire.

“Shun can be so reckless,” Haru commented. He joined up with Reiji and Ouka who were trying to fight a woman on a pegasus.

“That’s not your usual sword,” Reiji said seeing a different sword in Haru’s hands.

“I couldn’t find mine, so I ‘borrowed’ one from a fellow student,” Haru said.

“Well let’s hope you can use it to take down this knight,” Ouka said through gritted teeth. His aim with an axe was great, but she moved around too much and was flying too high. Not to mention that there were other enemies that were closing in.

On the other side of the battlefield was Gaku, who was trying to help Nozomu calm down his horse who had been spooked due to the battle. Luckily Ruka was with Mitsuru and Ryota, protecting them from the enemy fire.

“Why do these guys wear so much armor?” Ryota complained. The foe he was facing was wearing such heavy-duty armor, that his attacks did nothing.

“Just watch out for any mages, and take care of them while I focus on these guys,” Ruka said. He desperately hoped Gaku would come back soon because while Mitsuru could keep the armored foes busy, he also could not damage them.

“There’s a mage back there!” Mitsuru cried. His call didn’t come fast enough as he was engulfed by wind magic seconds later. Ryota quickly directed his daggers at the mage, and the wind stopped.

“Are you okay?” Ruka asked. His goal was to not let the underclassmen get hurt, but it looked like he would just have to prevent them from getting further injuries.

“I’m fine,” Mitsuru said. His clothes were torn up and he had small cuts everywhere, but nothing too serious.

“That’s good because we’ve got reinforcements coming on our left,” Ruka said. Luckily, Gaku and Nozomu took that time to make their entrance allowing Ruka to focus on the enemies in front of him.

The Knights of Tsukino made their way over and helped the five of them take down the enemies. There were no further injuries and they made their way over to where the fighting was still taking place.

Back on the other side of the battlefield, Reiji, Haru, nor Ouka had been able to hit the woman on the pegasus, but she hadn’t been able to hit them either. They were distracted with other foes that came over, but none of them were giving them as much trouble. Tsubasa, Iku, Eichi, and Shun were taking care of the other enemies. “Morihito, we could use some help!” Reiji said getting sick of dodging attacks.

“G-got it!” Morihito said. He ran over. The three of them allowed their attention to be on the enemies around while they trusted Morihito to shoot the pegasus down. Morihito took careful aim. He knew he didn’t want to mess this up. He didn’t want to miss, and he didn’t want to hurt the pegasus!

His first two shots missed, but his third shot hit the pegasus rider in the arm. He almost cheered from relief, but realized that wasn’t enough to stop her. He continued to shoot arrow after arrow, but it was just too hard with a moving target that high in the sky.

“I’ll get it,” Shun said, putting a hand on Morihito’s shoulder. He aimed his magic into the sky, and seconds later, ashes rained down. Morihito could only watch on, horrified. “And the battle’s over!”

The White Tiger class met back up to reflect on their battle. “I’d say it went pretty good!” Reiji said cheerfully.

“If you forget about that stupid pegasus knight maybe,” Ouka said bitterly. 

“We’ve definitely identified a weak spot,” Dai said. “That’ll give us something to practice. You all did good today. I know there were some injuries, but that is to be expected. Our opponents today were not just some rogues, but soldiers that have gotten training.”

“We should be proud!” Ruka said. “But I’m still sorry I let you get hurt Mitsuru.”

“I’m okay,” Mitsuru said. The cuts stung, but he was more so scared rather than anything else. What if next time something worse happened? He couldn’t help but shudder at the thought.

“After we rest up, we’re going to head back today?” Haru asked Dai. He received a nod.

“The Knights of Tsukino said we could go back with them,” Dai said. “Which means that we can utilize their caravan.”

“No walking!” Shun and Rui cheered together. Due to using the caravans, the trip home was much nicer. The Knights also shared their pre-made provisions which meant they didn’t have to make due with Haru’s ‘dinners’.

Morihito did not enjoy the trip home. Despite everyone celebrating their victory, he couldn’t help but feel like he failed everyone. Especially Rikka. He would have to find a way to make it up to him at some point, but he didn’t know how.

“Cheer up, Morihito!” Iku said. “You did really good in the last battle.”

“You’re just saying that,” Morihito said unhappily, “But I appreciate it.” He was glad that despite his mistakes, he had classmates that supported him.

“I see the monastery!” Ruka cried out. Everyone was excited to be home. When they finally arrived they all went either straight to the dining hall or straight to that bath house depending on their priorities.

“I wonder if the Vermillion Bird students are done with their mission?” Tsubasa asked aloud,

XxX

Before the mission, many of the Vermillion Bird students went to the training grounds. Though some of them had been there late into the night, they were back again, bright and early before their mission.

“Dai, will you spar with me?” Hajime asked. “I want to get some one-on-one in before our mission today.” Dai didn’t really want to spar with Hajime, the man was too strong for his own good, but relented, mainly because he couldn’t think of a good excuse.

“Sure,” Dai agreed.

“Makoto, could you please shoot some magic at me, I want to try practicing my dodging,” Futaba requested. Makoto felt a little uncomfortable without Koki there, but nodded his head.

“Thanks so much!” Futaba said cheerily. “I usually practice my evading with arrows, and then I realized that I don’t get enough practice going against mages.”

“Okay,” Makoto said so soft, Futaba could hardly hear him.

“Afterwards, if there is anything you think I could help you work on, let me know! I’d be happy to assist you, any way I can!” Futaba said.

The four of them weren’t the only members of the Vermillion Bird house training that morning. Arata, Aoi, Ren,and Haruto were also there doing their own separate training regimens. Around seven o’clock, they unanimously decided that it was time to eat and headed towards the dining hall.

“Breakfast won’t be ready until seven-thirty,” Hajime pointed out to the group.

“I guess I could wait,” Dai lied aloud. He felt like he would die if he didn’t eat right now.

“I can whip us up some eggs and toast,” Hajime said. “That would probably be quick.”

“Please!” Ren almost begged. Makoto said nothing. Koki had known about Makoto’s plan to head to the training grounds this morning and had promised to make him a big breakfast. When they arrived at the dining hall, it was nearly empty.

“If you think you can handle it… Please don’t force yourself,” Makoto could hear Koki talking to someone, but he didn’t know who.

“No problem!” the other person said. “Plating some food is much easier than maki- oops! There goes a plate!” A loud crash accompanied the man’s voice.

“Koki?” Makoto asked hesitantly going into the kitchen to check on his friend.

“Makoto, good morning. Breakfast is almost ready,” Koki said with a smile.

“I’m helping him plate!” an unfamiliar boy said. Makoto didn’t know if he was a student or not, as he had never seen him before.

“Trying at least,” Koki murmured. “I’m actually done cooking pancakes, so I can take over,” Koki assured the boy.

“Well, if you’re sure…” The boy seemed a little disheartened, but that quickly changed to a smile when he turned to Makoto.

“I’m Mamoru, you must Koki’s friend!” Mamoru said.

“I’m Makoto,” Makoto told him.

“It’s nice to meet you, I hope we become good friends, just like me and Koki,” Mamoru said.

“If you would like, Mamoru, you can eat with us. I’m sure our classmates won’t mind,” Koki said.

“Really? I wouldn’t want to bother anyone,” Mamoru said.

“Koki, did you make pancakes!?” Futaba exclaimed.

“Yes, I did,” Koki said.

“You made a ton,” Arata said. “Did you make any with strawberries?”

“Arata, don’t be rude! Besides, Koki might not have even made them for us,” Aoi said.

“I made them for our class since I figured that breakfast might not get served early enough,” Koki said. “I did make some pancakes with strawberries in them.” Anyone who had known Arata for more than five minutes would know about his love for strawberries.

“You are a lifesaver!” Ren said. Aoi offered his assistance with plating the pancakes, which Koki accepted and they quickly portioned out the food so everyone could sit down and eat. To go with the pancakes, Koki had cooked some sausage and scrambled eggs. There was also freshly squeezed orange juice to complete the meal.

After eating some food, Dai noticed the stranger at the table eating with them. He didn’t know how to bring it up, so he casually flung some food past Hajime and towards the stranger. Hajime’s reflexes caused him to snap his head up and watch the flying food. When it landed, he noticed Mamoru.

“Oh. I don’t think we’ve met,” Hajime said, locking eyes with Mamoru. “I’m Mutsuki Hajime.”

“I’m Fujiwara Mamoru,” Mamoru said shyly. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Are you a transfer student?” Aoi asked, “Or are you in a different house?”

“Oh no. I’m not a student,” Mamoru said. “I work here and help out Archbishop Mikoto!”

“How come I’ve never seen you?” Haruto asked.

“Well, I usually spend my time in the Cathedral, so if you don’t go there a lot, you probably won’t see me,” Mamoru said. Haruto nodded his head.

“I don’t go to the Cathedral. I kind of forgot it was there,” Haruto admitted.

“Is that why you did not go on Saint Wakatsuki day?” Ren asked.

“Were we supposed to?” Haruto asked. Dai and Hajime shrugged.

“Yes!” Aoi said. “We all went and offered our prayers as a class.”

“I brought my tamborine,” Arata said. “Then it got confiscated by Fumihiko.” They chattered the rest for the rest of their meal and then left to prepare. By eight o’clock everyone was waiting by the front gates.

“Are you guys ready to depart?” Fumihiko asked his class. After getting grunts and nods, Fumihiko took the first steps out of Monastery. Most of the Knights had left the day prior, so they would be there much before his class.

“We will be marching for most of the day today. We will set up camp in Sukigawa territory,” Fumihiko reminded his students.

“Were we supposed to bring camping supplies?” Ren asked, beginning to sweat.

“No. The caravan,” Fumihiko gestured towards the wagon being led by a portion of the Knights, “has all of the camping equipment we’ll need for this trip. We will also have rations prepared by the Knights.”

“Aoi-chan could make something way better,” You complained. He was ignored.

“I’m so tired,” Issa complained, stifling a yawn.

“I’ll carry you! Futaba offered immediately. He crouched down and let his older brother climb onto his back.

“Don’t wear yourself out,” Shou warned. Futaba was notorious for putting his brother’s needs before his own.

“I’m fine. He doesn’t even weigh anything!” Futaba said.

“I bet it would be good training,” Haruto said. “Shou, could I carry you on my back?”

“Oh, um, I don’t think that would be wise,” Shou warned. “You’ll get tired and then the rest of the walk will be tougher.”

“I’m not carrying enough to have a good workout on the way. I don’t want my muscles getting soft,” Haruto said. Without allowing Shou to protest any longer, crouched down and waited for him to get onto his back. Shou complied, but told Haruto to put him down as soon as his arms or legs started to hurt.

“While we’re on our way, I thought it would be the perfect time to review-” Fumihiko was interrupted quickly by Shiki.

“We should think of something to pass the time. Maybe we could develop strategies on how to deal with enemy forces should we encounter them,” Shiki suggested. He would discuss anything but the weapon triangle.

“Our strategy will be to cut them down,” Hajime said simply. “What more do we need?”

“What if there are more of them than us?” Koki asked. “Won’t that make it more difficult?”

“If they were more skilled than us,” Hajime said. “I could take on a hundred of them.”

“That sort of overconfidence will get him killed,” Makoto muttered. Koki heard his friend and agreed with that sentiment.

“It’s okay to be confident,” Shiki said, “but don’t get careless.”

“Hajime is the strongest of us,” Arata said. “Hajime could take on the strongest of all of the Knights!”

“Wow,” Ren said in awe. “That’s amazing.”

“I knew he was strong,” Haruto said. “When we sparred I was always on the defensive.”

“Hajime is something else,” You agreed.

“I guess our strategy will be to let Hajime handle everything then, right?” Rei joked.

“It sounds like we won’t be encountering any enemies though, so does it really matter?” asked Dai. Rei got serious.

“It might matter more than you think,” Rei said.

“Then I guess we should come up with a real strategy,” Shou said, noticing Rei’s tone. For as long as Shou had known Rei, the other man has always seemed one step ahead. If he implied that they were going to fight a battle, Shou knew something would be in store.

“I think splitting into pairs would be good,” Dai said. “We all work well with at least one person in our class.”

“That sounds good,” Ren said. He was hiding his nervousness. He didn’t know if Dai considered him a good enough ally to be his partner. If he didn’t, Ren didn’t know who would want to be.

“I’ll go with Arata,” Hajime said.

“I was going to go with Aoi, but I feel like I’ll be safer with Hajime,” Arata said.

“Oh, then I’ll go with You,” Aoi said. Arata gave You a look.

“If you let _anything_ happen to him,” Arata whispered his threat to You.

“Yeah, yeah. Aoi’s in good hands,” You promised seriously.

“Could I go with Shou?” Haruto asked.

“I don’t see why anyone would object?” Shiki said confused. “Who are you asking for permission?” 

“Shou and my classmates,” Haruto said honestly.

“It sounds good to me,” Shou said with a smile.

“Issa and I’ll go together,” Futaba said. “We work well together.” Ren was mentally crossing people off in his head. There were only five more people besides him.

“Makoto and I would like to be partners,” Koki announced to the group. “We are both mages though, so I don’t know if that is okay.”

“For a small skirmish like this, it should be fine,” Shiki said.

“Shiki, would you like to be my partner?” Rei had seen the way that Ren kept glancing over at Dai.

“That’s fine,” Shiki said. Ren waited to see if Dai would ask him to be his partner or not.

“Seems like we’re all partnered up,” Dai said to Ren.

“We are?” Ren asked. He squeaked out the last bit.

“Yeah? Who isn’t?” Dai asked looking around.

“Um, u-us?” Ren said.

“Did,” Dai swallowed a nervous lump in his throat, “did you not want to be my partner?”

“No!” Ren exclaimed. He then realized what he said and corrected himself. “I mean, yes! I would love to be your partner!”

“Are you guys going to be partners in battle, or partners in life?” Shiki asked, causing the two of them to flush red. Dai was pretty sure Shiki was joking, but it was hard to tell with him.

After the excitement of the discussion of battle plans, they all dissolved into mindless chatter amongst themselves. Soon enough they were settling down for the night. The next day passed in a similar manner and on the third they found themselves close to their destination.

“We’ll be at the first village soon,” Fumihiko said. The Knights will be waiting there to give us direction.”

“Is that smoke?” asked Issa, he had been on edge for the last half an hour but couldn’t figure out why. He sniffed the air.

“It looks like something happened,” Fumihiko said. “I’ll go talk to the Knights.” The Knights that had come with them had also seemed to sense something was awry.

“This doesn’t look good,” You said.

“Look there!” Arata said, gesturing off the path and to a bush. There was a fallen knight. Aoi rushed over with Koki.

“Can we save him?” Aoi asked Koki.

“No. He’s already gone,” Koki said.

“Oh no… I wonder what happened,” Aoi said.

“Hmm?” Rei said. He crouched down next to the knight. “It looks like he has something in his breast pocket.” How Rei could tell that with a single glance, no one would know.

“Is that his steed?” Ren asked following a trail of blood to a pitfall trap.

“No…!” Aoi cried, not daring to look. His eyes were starting to tear up. Arata pulled him into a hug.

“It looks like he was a messenger,” Rei informed the group. “There was some serious trouble at the border. They were pushed back this far,” he seemed to still be looking over the letter.

“They couldn’t handle it?” Shiki asked.

“That’s… odd,” Hajime said. Before anyone else could comment, an arrow flew past Hajime’s head.

“We’re under attack!” Futaba yelled. They all began to pull out their weapons. Figuring out what had happened could wait. For now, they had to fight!


	5. Support Conversations Part 1

**Shu and Eichi: C Support**

Shu and Kai were walking back to the dormitories together after dinner. Today’s lecture had raised some interesting points and the two of them were discussing some possible theories.

“I might actually use that as a reference in my report,” Shu said. “Could I borrow the book from you tonight?”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Kai said. “I already remember all of the important things. Besides, I probably won’t start on my report tonight, I want to do some training.”

“Sounds like you,” Shu said. “At least you get your assignments done on time.” Shu was referencing the fact that Roa had been setting a bad example to his fellow classmates by finishing up his assignments minutes before they were due.

“Roa gets them done on time too,” Kai said laughing. “I wish I were that confident in my abilities.”

“It does take quite a bit of confidence, or just carelessness,” Shu said. “I’m just glad that Issei and Ichiru aren’t taking after his example.”

“You do take care of those two like they’re your little brothers,” Kai said. Shu thought of himself more like their father, but figured Kai might make fun of him if he said that, so he kept it to himself. “Issei won’t go down that path for sure, but I’m not too sure about Ichiru.” Shu sighed.

“Ichiru just has trouble with the written assignments in general. Putting his thoughts and ideas into words is difficult for him, but when it comes to practical application, he really excels,” Shu said.

“Well, he’s a quick learner, I’m sure he’ll figure things out by the time he leaves the academy,” Kai said. He pointed towards the path to the training grounds. “I’m going to split up with you here. I’ll see you later, Shu.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow, Kai,” Shu said. He made a mental reminder to stop by Kai’s room to pick up that book before going to his own. He cut through the courtyard outside the classrooms and headed for the dorms for noble students.

“Can you show me that again, that was so cool!” A loud voice that Shu knew all too well could be heard farther into the courtyard. Shu headed towards the sound.

“If you would like, I’m happy to show you as many times as you would need,” Shu didn’t recognize that voice, but he did recognize the owner. It was Horimiya Eichi from the Gepakku Empire.

“Shu!” Issei called out happily upon seeing the older male. He got up from where he was sitting and ran over and hugged Shu.

“Shu’s here?” Ichiru became distracted immediately and ran over to hug Shu as well.

“Hello, you two, what are you working on?” Shu asked.

“Eichi was showing me this cool way to dodge out of an enemy attack when you are in close range,” Ichiru said. “It’s so awesome!”

“It’s really nothing special,” Eichi said sheepishly. “It doesn’t take much to learn, but it is something you have to practice a lot if you want to use it in real combat situations.”

“I’m going to practice lots,” Ichiru declared. He then started imitating Eichi.

“That’s all well and good, but it is important to get plenty of rest too. You two have been working hard today, why don’t you head to bed,” Shu told the twins. They were still young and needed lots of sleep. Issei cut off Ichiru’s protests of not being tired and bid the two upperclassmen goodnight.

“It was very nice of you to show Ichiru that technique,” Shu said to Eichi. “I hope he wasn’t too insistent.”

“No, it was not a problem at all! I love helping and teaching others,” Eichi said cheerfully.

“I’m glad to hear it,” Shu said. A silence fell over the two. Despite both having attended the Academy for two years already, neither had had the chance to talk to the other before now. Shu found it surprising that the silence felt comfortable, like the two were old friends.

“Those two have a lot of potential,” Eichi finally spoke. “I’m glad that they are attending the academy.”

“Yes,” Shu said. “They have been staying here for so long, but this year they were old enough to enroll.”

“Do their parents work at the Monastery?” Eichi asked. Shu shook his head.

“They are orphans. Issei has always had a strong knack for magic, so Lord Mikoto personally saw to it that he and his brother could attend classes this year.”

“That’s amazing!” Eichi said. “If the Archbishop sees that sort of potential, then he must be really strong. Is Ichi a mage too?”

“Ichiru?” Shu asked, surprised by the nickname, “No, he isn’t. But he’s working hard at hand-to-hand combat.”

“They’re both so strong,” Eichi said. “I hope that they have no reason to put that strength into action though.” Shu understood that sentiment wholeheartedly.

“I know they are strong enough to take care of themselves. They are always looking out for each other too,” Shu said.

“And they have you looking after them as well, papa-Shu,” Eichi said teasingly. Shu looked away, slightly embarrassed.

“Yes, well,” Shu struggled for words.

“I totally get it!” Eichi said exclaimed enthusiastically. “They are too adorable for words. It is so hard to not look after them. I hope one day they will see me as their big brother. That would be so sweet.” Shu was taken aback by the proclamation. “Sorry,” Eichi said. “I just can’t stand how cute they are. I want to be in a twin sandwich one day like you were!”

“A twin sandwich?” Shu asked, overwhelmed by Eichi’s enthusiasm.

“I bet you have so many stories of the twins since you are so close to them,” Eichi said, coming closer to Shu. “Please share some with me!”

“Um, okay?” Shu said.

“Great! How about I treat you to late night tea and snacks,” Eichi said.

“That sounds… good?” Shu said, unsure about this unexpected turn of events.

“Maybe you can tell me what the twins favorite tea and snacks are,” Eichi said. The two of them headed for Eichi’s dorm. They were in for a late night. Eichi had underestimated just how long Shu could talk about the twins. Not that either of them were unhappy about that.

**Haru & Hajime: C Support**

Haru was off to the dining hall. After a long day of training, he was famished. He bid the Knights of Tsukino that he was sparing with farewell and carried his sword with him. Going to the dining hall after training without bathing was looked down upon by quite a few people, but Haru couldn’t bring himself to care. He was _hungry_.

“I’m going to eat so much meat,” Haru said fantasizing about the tasty morsels in his near future. He was hoping for some fresh rabbit, but he wasn’t picky. Upon entering the dining hall, the first thing Haru noticed was how crowded it was. It was a little unusual for this time, but hopefully that just meant that the meal prepared for tonight was tasty. Haru hoped that there would be some left for him too.

“Mmmm! ‘Sho goo’!” a blonde-haired man that Haru recognized from the Alliance had a large portion of meat on his plate that he was devouring. It wasn’t rabbit, but it was meat, so Haru was happy. He got in line to be served and patiently waited until he got up to the front, stomach growling all the way. Just as he was about to get his dinner, someone spoke up behind him.

“That’s my sword.” Haru didn’t have to turn around to recognize Mutsuki Hajime.

“Ah, is it, my bad,” Haru said, sounding fakely apologetic. Haru turned around and saw Hajime, in an apron, holding out his hand expectantly. “Sorry, but I picked this sword up at the training grounds in the same place I left mine,” Haru lied. He had taken it from Hajime’s room after the other had picked up his sword at the training grounds.

“I know for a fact that that sword hasn’t left my room,” Hajime said. “It’s important to me.”

“Well, that’s really unfortunate, because this is the only sword I have,” Haru said. “So, unless someone else has my sword, this sword is _mine_.” Hajime looked annoyed by that statement.

“I don’t know where you lost your sword, but that sword has a engravement on it that proves that it belongs to me,” Hajime said.

“Really?” Haru asked. He hadn’t seen an engravement on the sword. “Where is it? What is it of?”

“That’s none of your business, just give it to me,” Hajime said. Haru was now very curious since the other was getting upset.

“Not until you show me,” Haru demanded. Hajime huffed but didn’t budge. Haru finished piling his plate high with meat. Hajime’s expression shifted into something happier.

“Fine. How about this. If you can eat all of that food, then I will drop this,” Hajime said. Haru scoffed. Was the man seriously doubting his eating ability? Haru could easily eat twice this much, especially since he was ravenous.

“It’s a deal,” Haru said, bringing his plate to a nearby unoccupied table and sitting down. Hajime sat across from him with a smirk on his face. Haru wanted to reach across the table and punch it off, but refrained. It would be satisfying to watch it disappear bite by bite.

“Go on,” Hajime goaded. “Eat up.” Haru dug his fork into the meat and brought a large bite up to his mouth. Hajime was still staring at him, so Haru gave a smirk and put the bite of food in his mouth. As soon as it was in his mouth, he realized why Hajime had been so confident. He had been tricked.

“You-” Haru growled out grabbing for his glass of water. Hajime pulled it away.

“What’s wrong? Do you not like it? I’m sorry, I guess my cooking isn’t for everyone,” Hajime held the water just out of Haru’s reach. Even as tears welled up in Haru’s eyes, he forced himself to swallow. No matter what, he was not going to lose.

**Soushi & Ren: C Support**

With the first day of class over, Ren let out a sigh of relief. He had no idea that he was going to have such scary upperclassmen. He wished that his family had territory in the Alliance instead of the Kingdom. If he had been a commoner, he could have probably gotten into the Azure Dragon class, as he had trained at a fighting school in the Alliance. At that fighting school he had met Soushi and the two had become friends rather quickly.

Once Ren had found out that Soushi was going to the Officer’s Academy at Shikkoku Monastery, he knew he had to go too. His parents had been thrilled at the idea and immediately signed him up. At the time, Ren had been under the delusion that he would get to see Soushi everyday and train with him, just like at the fighting school, but he now realized he was sorely mistaken.

“Why the long face?” Soushi asked Ren. They were spending time together in Soushi’s room.

“Just thinking about our first lecture,” Ren said with a sigh. “My upperclassmen are scary,” he admitted.

“Really? Well, I’m sure you’ll make friends soon,” Soushi said. “You are a likeable guy.”

“I don’t know if my classmates think that,” Ren countered quickly. “I had to sit next to a scary upperclassman.”

“Don’t sit by him tomorrow,” Soushi replied.

“But what if he takes offense to that and gets mad?” Ren asked. He honestly didn’t know how the bluenette would react to that. “Besides,” he said with a sigh. “There’s no one else to sit with.”

“C’mon, they all can’t be bad,” Soushi said.

“Sou-nii!” Ren whined. “You don’t understand.” Once Ren realized what he called Soushi, he flushed. Soushi gave a small smile, but mercifully didn’t tease Ren about the slip-up.

“What about the first-years like you?” Soushi asked.

“One of them fits right in with the upperclassmen,” Ren said, thinking of the guy who came in late and decided to forgo his homework to train with Hajime. “The other two are already friends.” Ren thought about the two students who were really close. The quiet one seemingly only spoke to his airheaded friend.

“Well, it was only your first day, so what if you didn’t make any friends yet,” Soushi said.

“Did you already make friends?” Ren asked. Soushi felt kind of bad that Ren didn’t know he was attending with his childhood friend, Sora, so he shrugged. “See? And that’s not even the worst part! I forgot to bring my textbook with me! Then when we were doing introductions, I accidently said the same thing as the person before me and he probably thinks I’m really lame!”

“Ren, calm down,” Soushi said. Ren really took a lot to heart.

“I can’t go back to class, Soushi!” Ren said. “What if tomorrow I do something more embarrassing than today?”

“I’m sure that everyone will forget about it, Ren, it’s not as big of a deal to them as it is to you,” Soushi said. He could see that he had said the wrong thing when tears started to form in Ren’s eyes. “Sorry,” Soushi said, holding his arms out. Ren embraced his friend.

“I just wish we could be in the same class,” Ren said, fighting his tears.

“I know, me too, but hey, I’m sure tomorrow will be better. I know it will be better, and you’ll make friends with everyone in your class,” Soushi said. “And if not, you always have me.”

“Yeah, thanks Sou-nii!” Ren said with a smile.

**Reiji and Rui: C Support**

Reiji was surprised when he suddenly looked up at the sky and noticed that it was nighttime. He had been training most of the day since it was Sunday. They hadn’t had class today and he had been avoiding the homework. It sank in that he would have to hurry and get a start on it if he wanted it finished for tomorrow.

He was glad that he didn’t have to worry about cleaning and putting a weapon away as he hadn’t been training with one. He left the training area and began the trek to the library. The assignment was writing one page about the history of the Empire. Although his father was the Minister of Military Affairs, he wasn’t too knowledgeable about the history of the Empire.

The library was quiet since it was so late. Only a few people were there although Reiji didn’t recognize most of them. One person he did recognize was Rui. He seemed to be studying a magic tome, but on closer inspection, his eyes were closed.

Reiji warred with himself, he had homework to do, but leaving Rui to sleep in the library would be detrimental to his health. Deciding quickly, he scooped up Rui and also grabbed the tome that he had been reading. The younger male didn’t stir at all the whole time that Reiji carried him.

Luckily, Rui had left his dorm room unlocked so Reiji could enter and place the boy on his bed. He set the tome on the nightstand and decided to leave a message. The next morning Rui would awake to a note that read ‘You should make sure to get proper rest in your bed and not study so late.’

It was only a couple days later when Reiji found Rui in the dining hall with a miniscule amount of food on his plate. “You need to eat more than that,” Reiji pointed out. Reiji’s own plate was pretty full.

“This is enough for me,” Rui said. He then went back to eating and reading a magic tome at the same time.

Reiji reached over and shut the tome. “Why don’t you take a break, you’ve been studying for hours.”

“Shun said I could probably master all the spells in this tome by the end of the month if I try,” Rui said.

“Yeah, well that guy can memorize the whole thing just looking at it once. Of course he thinks you can learn all these spells so quickly,” Reiji muttered. “Look, it’s not good to try and force your body to learn too many spells so quickly. You’ll end up hurt.”

“I’ll be fine,” Rui said. “I want to be able to fight too.”

“You can,” Reiji assured. “But you don’t need all of these spells to be able to fight. You should figure out which ones are really necessary and learn the rest after you’ve mastered those.”

“But I already know almost all of the spells in this book,” Rui said.

“What?” Reiji asked. “Already?” Rui just nodded. It seemed Reiji underestimated him. “Still, you should take plenty of breaks, I’m sure that you’re tired.”

“I’m fine,” Rui said with a yawn.

“That just proves my point,” Reiji said. He thought about how he could make his underclassman take a break. Thinking that the greenhouse was a great place to relax he was just about to suggest it when someone from another class approached the two of them.

“Hey Rui, you’ve been studying a lot lately, you want to see if we can find that cat we saw the other day?” He asked.

“Sure, Kai,” Rui answered. “I’ll see you later.” With that Rui left with the rest of his food, presumably to feed the cat, and Reiji was left sitting there with his mouth open. He really wasn’t sure how to feel after someone else came along and took Rui to go rest.

“He forgot his tome!” Reiji realized as he looked down to finish eating. He would have to return it to him some other time because Rui was busy with someone else.

**Sora and Kensuke: C Support**

Kensuke was having trouble keeping up with combat training. It seemed like no matter who he faced, he lost. He cycled through different weapons trying to find something that would help him win.

“I yield,” Kensuke said to his current training partner. Soushi had easily disarmed Kensuke even though he had been using a sword. 

“You were supposed to beat him!” Sora pouted. “C’mon Kensuke!” Kensuke was happy that he wasn’t the only one in class who struggled when it came to combat. Sora also had a losing streak.

“He’s just too tough!” Kensuke said trying to keep his spirits up. He was honestly disappointed. “Maybe I should try to beat him at his own game next time and try again with an axe.”

“Sure, I’ll be sure to beat you just as easily,” Soushi said cockily before stalking off to go ask someone else to spar.

“You were so close that time!” Sora said to Kensuke. “You should’ve just went with an axe, that way you could really get him.”

“But a sword is better against someone with an axe,” Kensuke said.

“Apparently not always. I was talking with a really cool Kingdom student the other day and he said the weapon triangle isn’t always right,” Sora said.

“No?” Kensuke asked intrigued. “Why do you think an axe would be better then?”

“When Soushi sparred with Kai the other day, Kai easily beat him despite having the disadvantage, so Soushi’s been specifically training to counter swords,” Sora explained.

“I see,” Kensuke said.

“It must be nice to be able to use so many weapons,” Sora said.

“I only use three,” Kensuke corrected with a laugh. Seeing as they were going to talk for a while, Kensuke took the initiative to move over to the side of the training area. He sat down against the wall and Sora moved to sit next to him.

“Still! That’s cool. A lot of people only know how to use one, you’ll be able to win no matter what situation you’re in,” Sora said. Kensuke decided to not point out that he had been losing a lot of sparring matches recently.

“I guess so, but I need to train three times as hard that way I can master all of them,” Kensuke said.

“Can you switch which weapon you’re using mid battle?” Sora asked curiously.

“I never have, but that isn’t a bad idea,” Kensuke said. “That’s actually a really good idea. I’d be able to use completely different tactics and throw the enemy off-guard. Thanks Sora.”

“No need to thank me. I’m a genius, I know,” Sora said smugly.

“Do you want to learn how to use different weapons besides daggers?” Kensuke asked. He wondered if Sora brought up the topic of conversation because he was interested in learning a new weapon.

“No, I like daggers. I like having a weapon in both hands which would be harder with heavier weapons,” Sora answered.

“I see.” Kensuke got up. “Since you suggested the idea of using different weapons mid battle I take it you won’t object to helping me train?”

Sora groaned but got up. “Sure. I need to get stronger to beat Soushi anyway.”

“A different weapon might help,” Kensuke teased.

“It might help you, but not me! I’ll beat you right now and show you!” Sora said enthusiastically.

“I’m trying to train, not spar!” Kensuke said with a laugh. He would end up humoring Sora anyway. He was happy that he made a friend like Sora, he already felt much lighter.

**Dai and Rikka: C Support**

Rikka was once again in the library studying. As a healer, spending time in the training area was not as beneficial as learning about new healing techniques and medicine. He looked up when he heard someone enter the library and saw Tsubasa’s friend ‘Dai-chan’.

Briefly, he entertained the idea of starting up conversation, but figured that would scare the other man away. He should just be patient and wait for Dai to talk to him. Much to Rikka’s disappointment, Dai sat at a different table.

Rikka sighed and figured he should focus and his book about herbal medicine. Unfortunately, he found himself unable to concentrate. He kept glancing over at the handsome blue-haired male. Wait, did he just think to himself that Dai was handsome? He blushed and looked back down at his book.

His gaze didn’t stay at his book for long and he found himself looking at Dai not that much longer. This time though, Dai looked back at him. Rikka panicked momentarily and just stared. It seemed the staring made Dai uncomfortable and he finally said his first word to Rikka, “What?”

This snapped Rikka back to reality, “It’s nothing!” He cursed himself for getting so flustered. He needed to smooth things over. “What are you studying?” Of course, looking over at Dai so much he knew that he was reading up on the ecology of the Shimosa Plateau of all things.

“The ecology of the Shimosa Plateau,” Dai answered predictably.

“Oh!” Rikka feigned surprise and then devised a plan to get closer to Dai. “Actually my family's territory is right next to the Plateau so I’ve been there a lot. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.”

“Okay,” Dai said and then went back to reading. Rikka was unhappy that Dai didn’t try to talk to him more, but figured it should be counted as a success seeing as Dai talked to him in the first place.

The two continued to read their own books, this time Rikka was able to focus. Suddenly, a book was set down and someone slid into the chair across from Rikka. He looked up to see Dai. “Um, I have a question.”

“What is it?” Rikka asked, trying not to sound too excited.

“My family has territory next to the Plateau too, so I have been there before,” Dai started. Rikka was surprised to find out that Dai lived so close. “Apparently there is a plant that can be used to cure almost any illness.” Dai showed Rikka a graphic from the book. “I was wondering if you had ever seen it before.”

Rikka was glad that plants were his area of expertise. “That’s a _Viridi Radix_ if I’m not mistaken. I have seen one before and actually helped make medicine with it.”

“Did it cure the illness?” Dai asked.

“Yes it did. It definitely is a miracle plant. It is very hard to find though.” Rikka wondered why Dai was so curious. He must have someone that needs a cure made from the plant.

“Thanks,” With that, Dai started to get up.

“So do you know someone who needs the cure?” Rikka asked. He hoped that he wasn’t being too invasive, but Dai brought it up in the first place. Thankfully, Dai sat back down.

“It’s my sister. She was supposed to be the one to take over the family territory. She should be here instead of me, but she got sick and the doctors don’t know what it is,” Dai said.

“I’m so sorry, Dai,” Rikka said. “Maybe we can go look for the plant together sometime.”

“That’s okay,” Dai said. “I didn’t mean to bother you like this. Sorry.” With that, Dai quickly left the library. Rikka got the feeling that Dai didn’t like being vulnerable in front of other people. He would show Dai that he could rely on him though.

**Shou and Haruto: C Support**

Haruto felt bad, today was the first day of class and he was going to be late. He didn’t have to be late as he still had plenty of time to make it if he ran, but he had been practicing at the training grounds this morning. It would be in bad taste to leave his sword uncleaned.

Unlike most people, Haruto brought his own sword to the training grounds. His sword was almost like his baby, he was hardly seen without it. Therefore he had to make sure it was properly cared for.

“I’ll get you sparkling again soon,” He promised his sword as he wiped it down. He made sure to get every inch of the blade. Once he was satisfied, he began sharpening his sword. After he was satisfied with that, he determined he should head to class.

There were several entrances and exits in the training yard. The route to the classroom from the training yard meant that he would pass by the noble dorms. Of course he could take a different route to avoid it, like most commoners did, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t intimidated by the nobles, he could hardly see how they were different.

While passing through the dorms he heard the sounds of several alarm clocks going off. Class was immediately forgotten as he went to go investigate. It was coming from a man named Shou’s room. He put his ear to the door to try and figure out what was going on. When he couldn’t hear anything because of the loud alarms, he decided to just go in.

Upon entering the room, the sound just got louder. Haruto winced a little, but powered through to where six clocks were going off. He turned them off one by one and then observed the scene. Lying in bed was who he could only assume was Shou. He was still deep in sleep.

“It’s time to get up,” He told Shou. He didn’t want his fellow classmate to miss class. Seeing that there was still no stir, he wondered if his classmate was dead. That thought filled him with dread. He quickly put a hand to Shou’s chest to see if he could feel the rise and fall. Thankfully, it seemed Shou was still breathing.

He wondered if it just took a different approach to waking Shou up. He put a hand on Shou’s shoulder and began shaking him lightly. “Shou?” He called. Finally, Shou’s eyes opened.

“Good morning,” Shou said blearily.

“Good morning,” Haruto said. “We’re late for class.”

“Late for class?” Shou asked confused. “Oh!” Instead of the usual scramble to get ready as fast as possible that most people had upon finding out they would be late, Shou slowly sat up. “I’d better get ready.”

Haruto watched as Shou eventually got out of bed and went to the mirror in the room to fix his bedhead. After he was satisfied with that, he grabbed his toothbrush and headed to the communal bathroom.

Haruto felt like it would be impolite not to wait so he stood in the middle of Shou’s room until he got back. “You’re still here?” Shou asked surprised. “Well if you don’t mind waiting a while longer, after I get dressed I’ll be ready to go.”

“Okay,” Haruto figured that he should leave the room to wait so he did just that. Seconds later, Shou emerged from his room fully dressed.

“Let’s get to class,” Shou said. The two of them began walking to the classroom together. “Thank you for waking me up. I find it really hard to wake up with an alarm.”

“It was nothing,” Haruto shrugged.

“Even though this is my third year here, I’m still not used to waking myself up,” Shou admitted. “Last year my classmates would sometimes wake me up, or I would be late to class.”

“I can wake you up if you want,” Haruto suggested.

“Really?” Shou asked.

“Yeah, I usually train in the mornings so I’ll pass by anyway. It’s no trouble.”  
  
  


“Then I’ll gladly take you up on that offer, thank you. I’m Shou by the way,” Shou said.

“Haruto.” With that, they somehow made it to the classroom only a little bit late and that marked the start of their new routine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the first batch of support conversations. If you want to see a certain pair interact be sure to comment! Sorry for the long wait, we hope you enjoyed reading!


	6. Garland Moon, 1180 Part 1

Hajime was the first to pull out his sword. He blocked the next arrow coming towards the group with the front of his blade and scanned the horizon for the archer. “They are stationed up on the outcropping!” Hajime called. The rest of his classmates turned towards the rocky terrain on one side of the path. There were archers stationed on top of various rocks scattered about.

“They have mages, too!” Issa warned seeing a glimpse of a robe behind one of the rocks. It seemed the enemy had the intention of catching them by surprise. Unfortunately for the students, they were caught off guard.

“We’ll lead the assault, take down anyone who gets past us!” one of the Knights called. The Knights had leaped into the fray quickly, as they were much more organized and prepared than a class of students.

“We can’t let them do all the work,” Haruto said, drawing his sword. “It’s a Knight's sworn duty to protect his King and his people!” With that, he rushed to the front lines. Shou followed close behind him.

“I can’t let you go on your own!” Shou said. “I’ll fight beside you.” Shou drew his lance and positioned himself near Haruto. “I’ll try to keep them distracted, you focus on taking them down one-by-one.”

“Got it!” Haruto said. With a yell he struck down the nearest enemy.

“They were supposed to stay back here,” Shiki grumbled to himself. “We sure have spunky first-years…”

“I would say,” Rei said with a small laugh. “Shou will keep Haruto safe,” Rei added. Even though Shiki hadn’t said anything, Rei knew the other was worried about Haruto’s safety more than anything.

“Come on, Arata,” Hajime urged. “We’ll head around to the west where they are less protected by rocks and trap them in a pincer attack.”

“Issa and I will follow you!” Futaba volunteered. Issa rolled his eyes at his younger brothers enthusiasm to disobey the Knights, but didn’t voice any opposition.

“Koki, Makoto,” Shiki addressed the pair as they seemed to be unable to take the initiative to start fighting. The two of them were just whispering to each other.

“Yes?” Koki asked, looking over at his class leader.

“I want you two to try to take down the heavy-armored foes,” Shiki said. Makoto scanned the battle field and saw that there were a few enemies engaging the Knights with heavy armor. It seemed that the Knights had only brought one person who specialized in magic and they were busy healing.

“We can do that,” Koki said.

“Let’s go,” Makoto said, pulling his friend. “We’ll have to get closer.”

“Okay,” Koki agreed.

“We’ll cover you!” Aoi exclaimed, pulling You over to the two underclassmen.

“Just leave it to us,” You said. He tossed a dagger up into the air and caught it. “I’ll take care of the archers and Aoi-chan will take out anyone who gets near.” Koki was grateful for the two of them. He had been nervous about making his advance with just Makoto.

“It’s your first battle, so you are probably nervous,” Aoi said. “Just know that between us and the Knights, nothing bad will happen! So, all you have to worry about is doing your best.”

“Thank you,” Koki said. Makoto wanted to disagree. If the Knights were capable of taking care of the enemy, they wouldn’t be in this situation right now. The Knights had been pushed back and overwhelmed. He only hoped they could make it out of this battle and retreat before reinforcements came.

“It seems like Hajime is trying to pincer the enemy… I guess no one is really following the Knights orders anymore, huh,” Dai said. Ren nodded his head. He wanted to go and help his fellow classmates at the frontlines, but was unsure if Dai wanted to do so. They were partners though, so Ren wasn’t going to leave him.

“The enemy is probably expecting the Knights to give them the most trouble, and are focusing their attack against them. They aren’t really paying much attention to a few students,” Ren said.

“Yeah, but we are definitely outnumbered. It will only be a matter of time before they realize what we are doing and stage some type of counterattack, but it’s hard to tell what their plan is, or even their formation,” Dai complained.

“With all of these rocks about, it makes it easy for them to hide and take the enemy by surpr--” Ren’s blood ran cold. “Behind us!” Dai glanced at his companion, confused by what he meant.

“Looks like we have more company,” Rei called, bracing himself for a brutal battle.

“Just what we needed,” Shiki groaned. While Hajime had come up with the plan of pincering the enemy, the enemy had that plan all along. On the other side of the path were more rocky outcroppings where the enemy had been lying in wait for the Knights and students to break apart and then ambush them.

“A tactical retreat might be in order,” Rei told Shiki.

“It’s a bit too late for that now, I think,” Shiki said. “We’ll be too slow. There are too many of them. Damn it.”

“They’ve certainly noticed that we’ve caught on by now,” Rei said. “This might be our only chance to try to retreat.”

“Rei,” Shiki said. “Everyone is split up and engaged in battle, organizing them to retreat now would--”

“I don’t mean everyone, Your Highness,” Rei emphasized the last word. “You are _not_ going to die here!” Shiki was taken aback.

“He’s right,” Dai said. “Ren and I can cover the two of you,” Dai looked to the other for affirmation. Ren gulped, but nodded in approval to the plan. It was a Knight’s duty to protect his King, and though Ren wasn’t a Knight yet, it was his dream to become one.

“I’m not leaving my classmates,” Shiki said.

“You can’t be so selfish,” Rei said.

“They’re charging!” Dai announced, seeing the enemy break their defensive positions and start heading towards the group. Dai and Ren were the only two not currently engaged with the enemy and therefore the only two that could protect Rei and Shiki for their escape.

“We’re going,” Rei said. He grabbed Shiki’s arm and pulled. “I’ll make sure I get you someplace safe. Sukigawa territory is not too far from here, and we can--”

“I’m not leaving. I will stand here and fight alongside my classmates,” Shiki said. “I am the next in line for the throne. What kind of King would I be if I abandoned those I care about now?” Shiki didn’t wait for Rei to reply and drew his sword. He ran past Dai and Ren and charged the enemy.

“Let’s provide him back-up,” Dai exclaimed. After hearing Shiki’s short speech, Dai felt re-energized and ready to face the oncoming hoard.

“You’re not alone,” a female voice called. It was one of the Knights. She had come with four more Knights to aid in the battle on this side. “We can still turn this around.” Dai blocked an attack meant for Shiki and countered it with a blow of his own. Rei joined the fray and started to throw shurikens at the archers. The Knights were taking the enemy head on beside Shiki.

Ren hadn’t had experience in a real battle yet, so it was pretty exhilarating fighting alongside the Knights and his upperclassmen in what he first had thought was going to be a losing battle. He couldn’t wait to tell Soushi.

XxX

“It looks like more enemies came in from the south,” Hajime said. He felled another one of the enemy axemen. “Arata, watch your head!” Arata ducked just in time for a blade to swing where he just was. He swiped a leg behind the enemy’s knees to topple him over, and Hajime went in for the kill.

“Just four more to finish up here!” Haruto cheered. “Then we get to go help them.”

“Be careful,” Shou said, pulling Haruto out of an arrows path. “They can still hurt us even if there aren’t many left.”

“I’ve got him,” You said, sending a dagger flying in the archers direction. Unfortunately, the archer dodged and sent back an arrow. Aoi sliced it out of the air.

“That was pretty badass, Aoi!” You said, surprised.

“Thanks,” Aoi said embarrassed by the praise. “I guess it was just instinct when I saw the arrow flying towards you.”

“I’ll finish him,” Makoto said. He then cast a Fire spell and took down the archer.

“Nice job!” You said raising his hand up for a high-five. Makoto just stared him down, so he put his hand behind his head awkwardly.

“One left!” Hajime called, rushing towards the last one. “It’s--”

“Mine!” Haruto yelled, swinging his blade at the same time as Hajime. The two both managed to slash the enemy, but their swords clanged against each other’s with quite a bit of force.

“Are you okay?” Koki asked. He had been attending to Issa’s wounds. During the beginning of the battle, Issa had been surrounded and he had sustained massive injuries. He was currently unconscious now. Futaba was beside himself with worry.

“I’m good,” Haruto said. Hajime had swung his sword _hard_ , and Haruto’s arms were definitely feeling it.

“I’m okay, too,” Hajime said, rolling his shoulder and shaking his arm out a little. Koki could tell that the impact had hurt Haruto more than he was letting on, so he did cast Heal on him as discreetly as he could manage.

“Time to clean up,” Arata said. The group left Issa and Futaba by the caravan, and headed over to the other side of the battlefield. Most of the Knights had migrated over here as the fighting had gotten more intense.

“Koki!” Rei called as soon as he saw the others join them. “Dai could use healing.”

“I’m fine,” Dai insisted. His arm had been cut, but it wasn’t bleeding much and he could still use his double-bladed lance fine.

“It’s better to take care of it now, before it gets worse,” Koki said.

“Hajime, can you go assist Shiki and Ren?” Rei asked. “The two have made it fairly far, and I can’t reach them.”

“Okay,” Hajime pulled his buddy, Arata along with him.

“I’m going to join the knights over there,” Aoi said. He saw that an enemy soldier was on a steed, and he was going to liberate it. You followed Aoi, he had to make sure the other didn’t get hurt.

“Haruto, why don’t we stay back this time and support them,” Shou suggested. The younger male had done a lot of fighting and he was worried about him collapsing from exhaustion.

“It’s fine! I can still fight,” Haruto said, charging back into the fray.

“Can you help us get a path to Shiki and Ren?” Hajime asked. He knew Haruto would be more than capable.

“Yes!” Haruto said engaging an enemy blocking Hajime and Arata’s path. Shou followed up with an attack of his own. Arata grabbed an enemy mage and twisted their arms back behind them.

“Hajime, go on ahead,” Arata called.

“Got it,” Hajime said.

Ren realized that he had gotten separated from the Knights, Dai, and Rei, without even noticing. He was back to back with Shiki surrounded by the enemy. The two of them were forced to stay mostly on the defensive. It seemed that they could only stall until help arrived, but Ren didn’t know how much longer they would be able to. At this point, his muscles were screaming under the strain and Shiki’s sword arm had an arrow sticking out of it.

“If you wish to escape, I can try to distract them,” Shiki said.

“No! I’m not abandoning you!” Ren said. “I’m sorry I am so useless.”

“You aren’t useless. Far from it. The fact that both of us have managed to stay alive this long is thanks to you holding your own,” Shiki said. “It’s my fault we’re in this situation, I just charged ahead.”

“You took down so many of the enemy soldiers though! It was amazing!” Ren exclaimed. “I hope that one--” Ren blocked an attack of an axe. He grit his teeth. He couldn’t let them overpower him, but his arms were trembling and he didn’t think that he could hold out much longer.

“Ren!” Shiki exclaimed. He blocked an attack aimed to fell Ren while he was vulnerable, but had to immediately defend against a lance directed at his throat. Ren could feel his arms give and closed his eyes. His end had come.

XxX

The enemy had originally had the upper-hand when the battle had begun, but thanks to the help from the students, the Knights had managed to reduce their forces drastically. On the Knights side, there had only been one death in the battle so far.

“It looks like they are starting to retreat!” Rei called. He was surprised that they had managed to drive back the enemy. It was looking bleak for a while.

“We’ll follow up,” the leader of the Knights said. “Fumihiko, take your class to the village and see if there are any survivors. After that, head back to the Monastery. I think they’ll need a break after this.” Fumihiko glanced at his exhausted students. After a battle this hard fought, they would deserve a rest.

“Will do, we will--”

“Shiki still is fighting,” Aoi exclaimed.

“And Hajime!” Arata chimed in.

“I think Ren’s still with Shiki,” Dai said. Fumihiko glanced over at his students. They all were obviously very tired, but they wanted to go save their classmates so badly that they would fight more.

“I know you guys are concerned, but you are exhausted, rest, the Knights will assist them,” Fumihiko said. He got a lot of protests, but he put his foot down--something he should have done long ago when they refused to bring their textbooks to class.

“We’ll take a small break here to regroup and rest, but then we are heading to the town. With, or without the rest of the class,” Fumihiko said. It wasn’t because Fumihiko was trying to be cruel, he was just trying for the best outcome. If he sent his tired students back into the fray, it was likely that some terrible injury would occur.

“I’m going to go check on Issa,” Koki said. He went to the caravan where Issa was resting.

“Koki, can you check on him, he’s sweating and panting a lot!” Futaba exclaimed as soon as the healer had gotten close. Koki nodded his head and crouched down next to Issa.

“It seems that he may have gotten poisoned. We’ll need to see if we have an antitoxin in the convoy,” Koki said. Koki peered into the bag with curatives and easily found what he was looking for.

“I’ll help him drink it,” Futaba said, holding Issa up and gently pouring the antitoxin into his brother’s mouth. “C’mon, Issa, you have to drink it!”

“Shut up, Futaba,” Issa mumbled. Nevertheless, he managed to drink the antitoxin.

“He has lost a large volume of blood, he needs to rest as much as possible for the next few days,” Koki said.

“Got it!” Futaba said. Futaba wiped the sweat off of Issa’s head with his sleeve. “Hear that, Issa? You can sleep as much as you want!” Futaba tried to remain cheerful for his older brother, but he felt guilty. If he had protected Issa better, then this wouldn’t have happened.

“You’re so stupid Futaba, this isn’t your fault,” Issa said weakly. His eyes hadn’t opened still, and he seemed to be very sleepy. Futaba started to tear up and he held his brother tightly. Koki decided to return to the others.

XxX

“Not a chance!” Hajime yelled, throwing his sword, and knocking an axe out of a soldier’s hand. He kicked a nearby enemy and yanked their lance out of their hands. He then used it to block an attack.

“Hajime!” Shiki yelled, relieved.

“Hajime…?” Ren asked, hesitantly opening his eyes. The enemies around them were no longer paying attention to him and Shiki, instead they were focusing their attacks on Hajime.

“Ren, can you toss me my sword?” Hajime asked, sending his underclassman a smile. Ren felt his heart skip a beat and his face flush. He located Hajime’s sword nearby and tossed it to him. “Don’t worry, Ren, I’m here now.” Within minutes, Hajime and Shiki had neutralized the enemy soldiers.

“Let’s regroup with the others,” Shiki said, putting pressure on the injury on his arm.

“Yeah,” Hajime said. He turned to Ren. “Can you stand?” he asked, offering a hand. Ren hadn’t even realized that he was sitting. He took Hajime’s hand and was pulled back onto his feet.

“It looks like the Knights are chasing the fleeing soldiers,” Shiki observed.

“The rest of our class isn’t with them, though,” Ren said.

“They are likely back near the caravan. Let’s head that way and see what our next move is,” Hajime said, leading the way. It hadn’t registered to Ren just how far from the group he had gone with Shiki.

“Did we really move that far from the group?” Shiki asked, blinking confusedly.

“You did. I was also surprised,” Hajime admitted. “You two did some good work.” Ren’s face grew hot at the compliment. As the trio walked back, Ren wondered how many of the fallen soldiers were by his hand. There were a lot more than he had remembered.

“Did we take down that many?” Ren asked.

“Hajime had to take soldiers down to get to us, but I do feel like we killed a lot,” Shiki said. Ren couldn’t believe how many lives he took today. Seeing it in real life was much different than seeing the numbers in a textbook.

“You guys are okay!” You yelled when he saw the three approaching.

“We were really worried,” Shou said, hugging each of them in turn. The group took a minute to welcome the three back.

“Now that everyone is here,” Fumihiko said, “we should head for town.”

“Are we taking the caravan back to the monastery?” asked Koki. Fumihiko shook his head.

“Just into town. We’ll have to take the supplies we need for the journey home back with us. The Knights are going to need it for the rest of their mission.”

“That’s just great. I was hoping to sleep in there for the next three days,” Shiki complained, rubbing his sore back.

“We’ll wrap up your arm on the way to town,” Koki said. He hated to admit it, but he was drained of magic.

“I’ll heal it a little,” You said with a shrug.

“You know healing magic?” Dai asked.

“I guess I know the basics,” You said as he begrudgingly healed Shiki’s arm.

“You’s just embarrassed because he thinks it’s _girly_ ,” Arata teased.

“Shut up,” You growled.

“Healing magic can be performed by any gender,” Koki supplied helpfully. Makoto patted his friend on the arm. Koki just didn’t understand the struggles some men had with masculinity.

The group picked up the caravan, meeting up with Futaba and Issa, and then headed for the city. The whole town was in ruins and it seemed that there were no survivors. After ascertaining that they had all the necessary supplies from the caravan, the Vermillion Bird class started on their long trek back to the Monastery.

“So, what was up with those soldiers anyway?” Futaba asked. “They seemed too well united, and they were obviously trained too.”

“It seems that they were part of a rebellion from Kikyo,” Rei said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the note they had found on the dead messenger.

“A rebellion?” Shiki asked. “But their whole territory was taken by the Kingdom years ago. There has been no word of insurgents ever since.”

“You have to admit,” Shou said, “Their attire, battle style, appearance, everything points to them being from Kikyo.”

“I wonder how long they have been planning and training for this,” Aoi said. “It’s kind of scary to think about… Do you think there will be more attacks?”

“It’s likely,” You said.

“That’s fine, we’ll cut them down,” Haruto said confidently.

“As far as anyone was aware, they didn’t even have an army,” Rei said. “For them to be able to hide a force of this magnitude seems suspicious to me.”

“At least that explains why there have been so many attacks in our territory,” Shou said with a weak laugh. Ren felt bad for him. It must be tough having territory that bordered the enemy. His family had territory near the Western Church. That hadn’t seemed like it would be a problem until recently.

“When we get back to the Monastery, word will definitely go out to the Lords of the Kingdom,” Fumihiko said.

“Well then, let’s hope that this is the end of that,” Arata said. Murmurs of agreement were heard among his classmates. 

“Hajime, you seem lost in thought,” Aoi said. Hajime hadn’t really talked much since they had all regrouped.

“Sorry, I guess I’m just thinking about that last battle,” Hajime said.

“Oh, what could have happened differently, stuff like that?” Aoi asked. Hajime nodded his head. What Aoi didn’t know, was that it had happened differently. It had gone much worse, and both Shiki and Ren had died. But the events had been changed and now the outcome had been for the better. What Hajime really wanted to know, was when did he gain the ability to travel through time.

XxX

Kakeru had just finished up with breakfast in the mess hall and was on his way to the restrooms. The Azure Dragon students had a productive training day. While eating Kakeru had overheard Shu and Takaaki saying that maybe the reason they weren’t doing any missions like the other classes was because they weren’t strong enough.

“We’ll show them we’re strong!” Kakeru said to himself. That was why he ate twice as much as normal. He had plans to go back to the training yard for more practice afterwards. He arrived at the bathroom and made a beeline for his favorite stall. Not the first one because that one sees the most use, but the second one. Once the door was shut he was ready to relieve himself.

Because the monastery was also a school, it wasn’t uncommon for obscene messages and pictures to adorn the walls. Kakeru, himself, had a chuckle at the funny messages like ‘Down with the weapons triangle’ and various jokes. However, he saw something today that made his blood turn to ice. ‘Mikoto dead @ 330’.

He thought about what that could mean. Why would someone want the Archbishop to die? He quickly finished up and went to his room to think about what to do next. After getting to his room, he realized that he was overreacting, of course no one was going to kill the Archbishop. It was probably just a student failing their class and wanting the courses to be easier.

After coming to that realization, Kakeru decided that he wanted to go through with his earlier plan and get more training in. He left his room to see Koi running over. “Hey Kakeru!” Koi called.

“What’s up?” Kakeru asked.

“Not much, I was just thinking about getting some training in. Want to join me?” Koi asked amicably.

“Of course! I was actually just about to do the same thing,” Kakeru said. The two of them set off for the training yard. It was not very crowded, as a lot of the students were out on missions or busy with other tasks.

“Hey you two!” Roa called out to them. “Getting some training in?” He got two nods. “That’s good. I have the feeling we’ll need it.”

“Why do you feel like that?” Koi asked.

“I’m not sure. I guess I just have a weird feeling today. It’s probably nothing. I just finished up so I’m going to go see if anyone wants to play!” With that Roa exited the training yard. Kakeru couldn’t help but think back to what he saw on the bathroom stall wall only a little while earlier. It was still morning, about 10:30. That meant that there was still five hours until the supposed assassination attempt.

“Kakeru! Koi!” Shu called out to them snapping Kakeru out of his thinking. “Would you be interested in sparring with the twins?”

“Sounds fun!” Koi said. Kakeru agreed. He just needed to stop thinking about what he saw earlier. Shu matched Kakeru up to fight with Issei since they both attacked long range while Koi was going to spar with Ichiru.

“Shu!” Issei called after Kakeru had hit him with the third blunt arrow. “How am I supposed to not get hit? I don’t really have a weapon to defend myself with.”

“Well there are multiple ways,” Shu said. “First, you can try to dodge out of the way. You could try to block it with your tome, or you could have someone else nearby to shield you from the hits.”

“I see!” Issei said. “Although it would be nice to have someone there to block the hits for me, I think I’ll try blocking them with my tome.”

“That sounds like a good idea. Kakeru, can you help Issei with his blocking?”

“Yeah. I need to work on my aim anyway,” Kakeru said. “Get ready Issei!” They began their new practice with vigor, but Kakeru felt bad every time he hit Issei with an arrow. “Sorry!”

“It’s fine,” Issei said. “Can we take a break?” Kakeru nodded and Issei immediately sat down. “I’m so tired.”

“Issei!” Ichiru called from a little ways away. He ran away from his fighting practice with Koi and went to his brother’s side. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Issei replied. This seemed to satisfy Ichiru. Koi noticed that Ichiru wasn’t coming back so he ran over to investigate.

“Are we done with our training?” Koi asked.

“I think so,” Ichiru said. “I’ll ask Shu.” He turned to ask Shu and realized that he couldn’t find the older student. “Shu!” He yelled.

“I wonder where he went. It’s not like him to just leave without saying anything,” Issei wondered aloud. 

“Let’s go find him,” Koi said.

“Okay,” Ichiru said. The four of them decided to go look for Shu together. On their way out of the training yard, they bumped into Ayumu.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Ayumu said. “We are supposed to meet in the classroom. Apparently it’s urgent.”

“Is Shu there?” Ichiru asked, forever having a one-track mind.

“Yes,” Ayumu confirmed. That was enough to make Ichiru happy and the five of them went to the classroom together.

“We’re still waiting on Takaaki to find Nao and Yuma,” Roa told them. Everyone else was there already, including Shu, who looked sheepish as he approached them.

“Sorry, I guess I got so caught up in this I forgot to tell you where I went,” Shu apologized. The four of them assured him it wasn’t a big deal.

“Are we going to get a mission?” Kakeru overheard Yoru asking Kai. 

“I’m not sure. The other two classes finally got back from their missions this morning, so I would be surprised if something already came up,” Kai said.

“They’re back?” Kakeru asked. “I thought they were still out. It’s been really quiet around here.”

“That’s because they got back pretty early this morning so they are all probably really tired. I think the Empire students got back first. The Kingdom students got back later than them.”

“I see.”

“Apparently the Vermillion Bird students had a rough time,” Soushi said.

“Yeah? Where’d you hear that?” Sora asked suspicious of his childhood friend.

“A student from that class,” Soushi replied.

“Who? When did you meet them? Why did you start talking to them?” Sora asked.

“Not telling,” Soushi teased.

“Didn’t you sit with students from different classes with Soushi at lunch?” Kensuke asked Sora. Sora seemed to think about it for a second before he realized that he knew students from other classes as well.

“Was it Mori?” Sora asked.

“No,” Soushi answered.

“Nozomu?”

“No, those two are from the White Tiger class.”

“Oh, Ren?” Sora asked.

“Bingo.”

“He seemed to get really attached to you. I remember it was really weird,” Sora said.

“Yeah, whatever,” Soushi ended the conversation quickly.

“When are the other three going to get here?” Roa asked. “I want to know what the news is! I want a mission just like the other guys!”

“Calm down Roa, here we are,” Takaaki said announcing the arrival of the last of the students.

“Now that everyone is here I have some grave news for everyone,” Kanade said. Kakeru gulped loudly. He was thinking about the message in the bathroom stall. Could that be what this was about? “I don’t want to alarm anyone, but there has been a threat issued against the Archbishop’s life.

“What!” Yoru cried. He then blushed from his outburst.

“Archbishop, what’s that?” Nao asked.

“Mikoto, the guy who runs this place,” Takaaki answered.

“Woah!”

“So, how does this pertain to us?” Shu asked.

“Our class is tasked with defending the Archbishop as we are anticipating an attack sometime today or tomorrow. It is important that the Archbishop is well protected during this time, but also other parts of the monastery.”

“So we’re going to be standing guard until the attack comes?” Roa asked. “That could take forever.”

“Yes, it could take a while, but hopefully it won’t. We have little time to prepare so let us make haste in devising a strategy.”

“Why aren’t the Knights of Tsukino taking care of this?” Takaaki asked.

“Most of the Knights have been out on missions for the past several days and need rest. There will be Knights joining us today though.”

“Let’s get a plan together then,” Roa said. “Any ideas?”

“Isn’t that your job?” Koi asked innocently.

“As the class leader I think that it is important that everyone has a voice, so I think we should do it together!” Roa answered.

“I think that first it would be good to know what other places we are going to protect,” Issei said.

“There are a few, the Library, the Holy Mausoleum, and the Weapons Storage,” Kanade answered. “The Knights have already been placed in charge of the Weapon Storage, since it is nearby to their dorms.”

“Why is the library on the list of places to be protected? There’s just books.” Nao complained.

“The library that the students use is a separate place from the Library. I guess you could call it the Secret Library maybe,” Kanade answered.

“Can you show us where it is located on the map?” Yuma asked. Kanade complied and pointed it out. “Can we draw on the map?”

“Sure!” Roa said just as Kanade was about to say the opposite.

“We have to protect here, here, and here,” Yuma said as he circled places. “Where will the Archbishop be?”

“In the Holy Mausoleum.”

“That makes things easier. I say that we split into two teams, one group goes to the Secret Library and the other goes to the Holy Mausoleum,” Takaaki spoke up suddenly. “Who wants to lead the groups? Shu? Kai?”

“Wouldn’t it make more sense for it to be you and Roa?” Shu asked.

“It doesn’t matter what ‘makes sense,” Takaaki said using air quotations. “I think that you and Kai are great leaders. I’ll be on Shu’s team.”

“Then I’ll be on Kai’s,” Roa announced. “Everyone else should pick a team.”

“Me and Issei are on Shu’s team,” Ichiru said.

“Me and Yuma want to be on that team as well!” Nao said.

“Me and Kakeru will be on Kai’s team,” Koi said, flashing Kai a smile. Kakeru was happy the Koi wanted to go with him.

“I’ll be on that team too,” Yoru said nervously. He looked around to see if anyone would object and was relieved when no one seemed to care except Kai who smiled at him.

“I’ll be on Shu’s team with Soushi!” Sora said. All of his favorite classmates were on that team.

“Actually I think I’ll be on Kai’s team,” Soushi said. Sora looked betrayed.

“I’ll be on a team with you Sora,” Kensuke said. Sora ran over and hugged Kensuke while sticking his tongue out at Soushi.

“I should probably be on Kai’s team to even it out,” Ayumu said.

“Well I guess teams are decided, that was easy,” Takaaki said.

“Now to determine which team should go where. I don’t really have a preference, but the Holy Mausoleum sounds cool,” Kai said.

“Then that’s where we’ll go,” Roa said. “Shu’s team can go to the Secret Library.”

“I think it would be most beneficial if we went to our designated areas to determine how we want to guard them,” Shu said. “That way we can see which spots are naturally protected and which spots are weak.”

“Sounds good,” Kai said. “Okay Team Kai, follow me!”

“Can we come up with a cooler name?” Koi asked. “Like Team Ultimate Mecha Heroes?”

“O-okay?” Kai said. “Team Ultimate Mecha Heroes, follow me!” With that he led his team out.

“Should we come up with a name?” Shu asked wanting to be cool in front of the younger students. “What about Team Cool Water?”

“That sounds, um,” Ichiru didn’t know how to tell Shu he didn’t like it.

“Cool,” Issei said. He liked the name, but could tell Ichiru was having a hard time telling Shu that he did.

“Issei, I don’t like it,” Ichiru whispered to his brother as the group followed Shu out of the classroom.

“I do, so I’ll tell Shu that in your place,” Issei assured.

Shu was unsure of where exactly the entrance to the Secret Library was. Somehow it could be accessed from the training yard. He led his group there and began to look around. He really wished that he brought Kanade with him.

“It’s you!” Sora suddenly shouted. He raced across the training yard towards where Ren was training with Haruto. His shout was distracting enough that Ren lost focus and was knocked down by Haruto.

“Hi, uh, Sora was it?” Ren asked from the ground. Sora reached out a hand to pull him up just as Haruto was about to do the same. Haruto took a step back seeing as something was unfolding in front of him.

“Yeah. What’s the deal with you and Soushi?” Sora questioned.

“Me and Sou-nii- I mean Soushi?” Ren asked. “Well-”

“-I knew it! You called him that the other day. I can’t believe Soushi didn’t tell me he had a little brother. Why are you in the Kingdom of Akane’s class? Should you be a part of the Mokuran Alliance?”

“I’m not really his brother,” Ren said when Sora finally let him speak. “I just went to a fighting school in the Mokuran Alliance.”

“Oh,” Sora said. “You’re the friend Soushi kept mentioning!” Sora was happy to finally make that connection.

“I guess so,” Ren said.

“That’s cool.” Sora felt bad that he had been upset with Ren. He hadn’t understood why he was acting like he knew Soushi so well.

“What are you up to?” Ren asked seeing as half of the Azure Dragon class was at the training yard with Sora and none of them were training, just standing around.

“We’re going to guard the secret library. Apparently someone is going to attack the monastery and assassinate the Archbishop.”

“What!” Ren shouted. “Oh no! Why did no one tell us?”

“I don’t know. You can ask if you want,” Sora said. “Takaaki!” He decided against calling Shu over, since it seemed like Shu was busy.

“Yes?” Takaaki asked. He came over to stand with the small group.

“Why didn’t the other students hear about the assassination plan?” Sora asked on Ren’s behalf seeing as Ren got nervous around other people.

“It’s supposed to be hush hush so the enemy doesn’t expect us,” Takaaki answered.

“Didn’t they tell us that they were going to attack?” Sora asked.

“Yes, but they only said that they were going to attack the Archbishop. Likely they are just saying that so all of the attention is on him and they can get artifacts and documents from other areas,” Takaaki said.

“I didn’t even think of that!” Sora said. He wasn’t fully sure why the enemy would want those things, but figured it would be pointless to ask.

“Shouldn’t the other classes help out?” Ren asked.

“They could, but the less people who know the better. There also aren’t too many places here with valuables so a small group is fine. Besides even if we needed you guys, you just got back from an intense mission and need some rest.”

“We can still fight!” Ren said. “I could gather up everyone who is up for it if you’d like.”

“We’ll be able to handle it with just us,” Takaaki said. “You should be resting anyway. Not training. Enjoy your time off.”

“I can’t. I have to be as strong as Hajime,” Ren said.

“Yeah,” Haruto spoke up suddenly. “So we can help. We need some real enemies to fight.”

“I guess I can’t stop you,” Takaaki said. Haruto and Ren both looked excited that they got permission to help and went to join the others and introduce themselves.

“The more people around, the more distracted everyone will be,” Sora heard Takaaki mumble under his breath. He wondered what that was about.

XxX

“Do we actually get to go into the Holy Mausoleum?” Yoru asked. As far as he knew that place was off-limits to everyone except on special holidays.

“Yes,” Kai answered. “We have special permission. It wouldn’t be good if the enemy somehow snuck inside while we were guarding the outside.”

“That’s pretty sweet,” Soushi said.

Kakeru would have been excited any other day, but he just felt sick. He knew that this was coming and he didn’t tell anyone. He still hasn’t told anyone what he saw in the bathroom. No one knew that the attack was coming at 3:30, they thought that it might even happen tomorrow.

“Well let’s go in,” Kai said.

“Wait!” A new voice called. Two Geppaku Empire students approached. Kakeru recognized one as the soon to be Emperor, Shun. “We’d heard about what happened and we would like to join your class on the mission.”

“The more the merrier!” Kai agreed easily, seeing no reason not to. He was good friends with Shun as they both looked after Rui. Haru was commonly around Shun so he had also talked with him several times. “Let’s go in!”

He led the class inside to the large room. “Everything looks so old,” Ayumu said in wonder. The class split up to explore the new room that many of them had never been in. Koi invited Kakeru to look around with him, but he still felt sick.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom!” Kakeru yelled to Kai who gave him the affirmative. With that, he dashed out of the Holy Mausoleum and to the bathrooms. He went into his stall and saw that the threat was still there. It was going to happen at 3:30, he didn’t imagine it. He exited the stall unsure of what to do.

“Are you okay?” He heard someone ask. He saw another student out of the corner of his eye. Based on their uniform it was a Kingdom student. He couldn’t even bring himself to look at them though. He felt so ashamed that he didn’t tell anyone that he knew.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” He said.

“You don’t sound fine. Do you feel unwell?” The other student asked.

“A little,” Kakeru admitted. “But I’ll be fine. I just have to tell.”

“Tell what?”

“Um, nothing,” Kakeru said. He wasn’t sure if the other students were allowed to know about the assassination. That’s when he noticed that there was someone next to the student, it was the Archbishop, Mikoto.

“I am sure it is not nothing,” The Archbishop said. “Tell us what it is.”

Kakeru took a deep breath. He knew he couldn’t lie to the Archbishop, that would just be wrong. Now was the time to confess. “I knew about the assassination attempt this morning. I also know that it is going to happen at 3:30.”

“If that’s the case we should get the Archbishop to safety now,” The Kingdom student said. “Come with me, please.”

“Are you going to the Holy Mausoleum because I’m headed there too,” Kakeru said. “We can go together.”

“Got it,” The three of them went back to the Holy Mausoleum. They saw that there were already Knights outside, ready to guard the place.

“Kakeru, you’re back. We devised a plan,” Kai said. He then saw that the Archbishop was with them as well as the other student. “Who are you?”

“Hajime,” The student answered. “I was asked to help protect the Archbishop.”

“I’ll tell you our plan then,” Kai said.

“Before that, we got information that the attack was to happen at 3:30,” Hajime said. Shun and Haru looked at each other with confusion on their faces before Shun shrugged.

“That’s good to know, that means we have little time to prepare,” Kai said. “Here’s the plan. There are several tombs here that we should guard. There is also the tomb in the back that is the most important. Shun and Haru volunteered to guard that area, but we figure that the Archbishop should remain back there as well since it is the farthest away from the door.”

“I’ll stay back there too then,” Hajime said.

“Kakeru you are supposed to be here with me,” Koi said pointing to a tomb on the map.

“All right! Everyone to their positions,” Kai called. They would soon be faced with battle.

XxX

Thankfully for Shu, the Knights showed up and pointed out the entrance. The door was covered with artificial grass that blended right in with the real grass. “Thank you very much,” Shu said to the knight that helped him out.

“Are you supposed to go down there?” The knight asked unsure. From what they had heard they were just supposed to secure the training area as that was the only way to make it into the Library.

“Yes, we were told too,” Shu wondered why the knight hadn’t been informed that they were guarding the Secret Library, but let it slide without complaint. He opened the hatch and led the way. As they went down the stairs, Shu realized that they should have brought some lights as it was dark.

“I’ll make some light!” Yuma said. He called his magic to his hand, but didn’t cast any sort of spell. The result was a bright light in the palm of his hand. He would put his magic into the wall torches they saw on the way down so it was well lit.

“Thank you,” Shu said. He was thankful that they didn’t have to turn around and get torches to light their way. When they made it to the bottom of the stairs, the room was dimly lit. There were towering bookcases that contained hundreds of books.

It was now time to devise a plan. Shu went to one of the many tables and took out the map that Kanade had given him. “We’ll have to decide the best way to defend this place.

“Seeing as there is no way in besides going down the stairs shouldn’t we all just wait there?” Kensuke asked.

“I actually think that is a brilliant idea,” Shu said. Kensuke beamed because of the praise. “It would be great to try and keep the fighting away from the books too.”

“In the meantime, I say we all have a look around,” Takaaki said. “You don’t get opportunities to read these books everyday.”

“Do we have to read?” Ichiru asked.

“It definitely isn’t a bad idea, but we should have some people remain here as lookout and the first line of defense,” Shu said. “Ichiru will you be one of those people?” Shu already knew that Ichiru couldn’t read, so he thought that this would be a good way to hide that.

“Yes!” Ichiru was happy about being the first line of defense, that meant he got to fight first.

“Me too!” Nao said.

“I don’t like reading either,” Haruto admitted. 

“That settles that then. Everyone else, stay alert and ready to battle, but see what information you can find here,” Shu said.

When everyone dispersed, Shu grabbed Takaaki before he could slip away. “What are you planning?”

“What do you mean?” Takaaki asked.

“I know that you obviously are looking for something specific and I want to know what it is,” Shu said.

“Is now really the time? I don’t know how long we’ll have to look around down here,” Takaaki said. “But if you want to help, look for books about the ancient civilizations.”

“I trust that you want this information for a good reason?” Shu asked.

“Of course,” Takaaki said.

“Then I’ll help you look,” Shu said. He was good friends with Takaaki so he wanted to help him where he could.

While everyone was busy reading, the other three made small talk. Eventually though, they got bored. “I hope we get to fight soon,” Haruto said. They had been waiting for at least a couple of hours.

“Didn’t you just finish up with another mission? Wasn’t it hard?” Naosuke asked.

“A little, but is there anything better than battle?” Haruto asked.

“Kingdom students really are blood-thirsty,” Ichiru said. “But I want to battle too! I hope they get here soon.”

“What if the Knights take care of them all?” Nao said. “That would be so boring!”

“They won’t,” Haruto said, but it sounded more like a promise. It seemed that it really was going to be the case because next thing they knew the sound of battle was close.

“They’re here everyone!” Ichiru yelled. His voice traveled well in the silent library and everyone was rushing over quickly.

“Let’s remain cautious and see what sort of numbers we are facing,” Shu said. Everyone waited near the base of the stairs to see what was coming. As the enemy got closer, Shu’s heart sunk. The building was shaking with how many of them were coming. There was no retreating either as the library only had one entrance which meant only one exit.

“Here it comes!” Sora said. Shu wondered why he phrased it that way until a beast emerged from the entryway. A second one followed close behind.

“What is that thing?” Issei asked. The creatures in front of them were black, making them hard to see. They were also covered in scales and walked on four legs.

“Who knows, it definitely isn’t friendly though,” Kensuke said as he dodged a swipe of a claw.

“Looks like we should try to surround it,” Takaaki said. 

“You guys try to take that one down, and I’ll keep this one busy,” Shu said running to where one of the beasts were.

“All by yourself?” Issei was concerned about Shu.

“If he says he can do it, let him be,” Haruto said. “Let’s take this one down quickly so we can help him.” Issei understood where he was coming from and agreed reluctantly.

“I can do this,” Ren said to himself. He was going to be a great knight one day and he would prove that now.

The beast in front of the group got back on its hind legs making everyone weary. It then came crashing back down, knocking almost everyone off balance. While they were still down, it started to breath fire at them.

“We should move back,” Yuma called. “Even if you have to crawl, just get away!”

“I’ll try to create an opening!” Kensuke said. He knew that he had armor that would help fend off the strong attacks. He would just have to be careful of the fire. Luckily, it hadn’t reached the books so nothing was burning yet.

“We can still attack from back here,” Sora said. He threw his daggers at the beast. Since they were so close and it was so big, they easily hit their target making the beast hiss.

“Good idea,” Yuma said, following in suit. Issei wished he could help more, but he hadn’t learned any offensive faith magic. He did know Ward which would help if it decided to use its fire breath again.

“You two should go in after me,” Takaaki said to Nao and Ichiru. “I’ll knock it over with my axe and then you can get some punches in.”

“Cool!” Nao and Ichiru said in unison.

Takaaki rushed in just like he said he would, Kensuke saw that he was going to attack and grabbed his axe as well. The two of them swung their axes, knocking the beast down. Ichiru and Nao closed in and went to town.

Just when it looked like it was about to get up again, there was black smoke and their punches started hitting the air. When the smoke cleared, all that remained was a jewel. “What’s with that?” Ichiru asked frightened.

“I don’t know,” Nao said. Takaaki took the initiative to grab the jewel. “Let’s deal with the other one. Shu looks like he is having a hard time.”

“Okay, same plan?” Yuma asked trying not to get freaked out by the fact that the monster disappeared and left behind some sort of jewel. Could it come back anytime?

“Same plan,” Takaaki confirmed. Just as they made it over to Shu the beast was getting ready to do its fire attack. Shu must not have realized what was coming because he didn’t back away, he held up his shield in defense.

Unfortunately, the shield wasn’t enough and the force of the fire threw the shield out of Shu’s hands. Issei immediately rushed over to heal Shu while everyone else charged in, forgetting about the plan.

No one had expected to see someone get hurt, so it was really scary. “Let’s fall back guys,” Takaaki said. He knew that they had a lot of new students in their group who were acting rashly. Unfortunately, only Ren and Haruto seemed to hear him. Takaaki sighed, everyone else was so troublesome.

He rushed in with his axe and went straight for the neck, if he could separate its head while it was distracted with everyone else it would end the battle quickly. It seemed that Lady Luck was on their side and his plan worked.

The black smoke appeared and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. That didn’t last long as Shu’s classmates rushed over to check on him. “Are you okay?” Ichiru asked.

“He’s unconscious, but he’ll be okay,” Issei said. “He got burned pretty badly.”

“I think it’s safe for us to leave now, there probably won’t be another attack,” Takaaki said. “Can someone help me lift Shu up?” He looked at Haruto expectantly. Haruto rolled his shoulder, but complied.

“Maybe the other group is still battling and needs our help, we should go!” Kensuke said. Since their upperclassmen weren’t here they were unsure if they should, but came to the conclusion it couldn’t hurt.

“Let’s go!” Sora cried running off. The rest of the class followed.

“Shouldn’t someone stay here?” Ren asked, but it was too late. Well, the Secret Library was next to the training area so he could get some practice in and keep an eye on it.


	7. Garland Moon, 1180 Part 2 +Support

When Kai heard some noises, he realized that the attack on the Holy Mausoleum had begun. What he didn’t anticipate was there were mages that were able to teleport troops past the first line, and main line of defense.

He turned around to see that there were several enemy soldiers poised to attack. “Watch out everyone, they are sending troops wherever they want!” Kai called. He then scanned the area in front of him for the enemy.

“Koi watch out!” Kakeru called. His friend just barely dodged out of the way thanks to him calling out. Kakeru then dashed in and shot the enemy point blank with an arrow. “That was a close one.”

“Behind you!” Koi said. Now it was Koi’s turn to save his friend, he rolled around Kakeru and swung his axe quickly on the enemy that was behind Kakeru. “He just appeared out of nowhere!”

“There must be some really strong mages,” Kakeru said.

“Are you two all right?” Yoru asked. He began checking the two for injuries.

“We’re fine, I know it looked like a close shave, but we fight well together,” Koi gloated.

“Thank goodness. I’m going to go check on the others,” Yoru said. He scanned the area and saw that Soushi looked like he was struggling. He quickly ran over to see if he could help. “Do you need a healer?”

“I need someone to help me with the mages,” Soushi said through grit teeth. He was currently locked in combat with two lance users. His axe was much sturdier and he was able to hold back both enemy soldiers at once, but hardly had any time to attack. On top of that, mages from farther away were charging their spells and he didn’t think he would be able to dodge.

“I’ll go get help,” Yoru said, preparing to go find someone else.

“There is no time. You have a weapon, don’t you?” Soushi asked.

“Y-yeah,” Yoru said. Deciding that he had no choice, Yoru grabbed the bow off his back and nocked an arrow. He said a small prayer before letting it fly. It missed, but he tried again. This time he hit his target.

Unfortunately, there were still two more mages. Knowing his awful luck, he probably wouldn’t be able to get them down before they cast their spell, but he had to try. Just as he was about to let his arrow go, he saw another arrow fly past and strike down one of the mages. Roa and Kai both ran over. Roa shot down the other mage and Kai went to help Soushi.

“Can you go help Ayumu? There is a weird beast that came out of nowhere. He is trying to handle it on his own, but there is no way he can,” Roa told Yoru, who nodded. It was easy to find Ayumu, as the beast was enormous. 

“How are you holding up?” Yoru asked. He felt a little ashamed for asking when Ayumu gave him a deadpan look. Of course he was having a tough time. “I think that Kai and Roa are on the way.” Yoru sure hoped that those two were coming back this way with Soushi in tow.

“I don’t think magic affects this thing at all,” Ayumu said. He tried casting another spell, only for the beast to seem unfazed.

“I feel like it should have more of an effect than that,” Yoru said. Ayumu was a great mage, so his spell should have done something. “Do you know any stronger spells?”

“Yes,” Ayumu said. He was holding back because he was starting to feel tired, but if that was their only chance then he would go for it. He chanted the incantation and cast Luna. It still had no effect. “Even dark magic has no effect.”

“I’m not too sure, but I think that the weird patterned tile it is standing on might be doing something,” Yoru said. “It flashed when you cast your spell.”

“Maybe we can lead it away?” Ayumu asked. “I’ll try moving away to see if it follows.” Ayumu took a couple of steps to move away from the beast, but on the third step, he wavered. Another step had him falling over. Luckily, Kai caught him easily.

“Let’s not overdo it,” Kai scolded lightly. He helped Ayumu stand back up before putting his lance in a fighting position.

“My arrows aren’t doing anything!” Roa whined. “What should we do?” Suddenly, the beast got onto its back legs. Not knowing what to expect, Roa didn’t move back and next thing he knew it was spewing fire! “Ouch!”

The four of them moved back to avoid the flames. “It’s off the tile!” Yoru exclaimed suddenly. Ayumu knew that this was his chance. He quickly cast the most powerful spell he currently had in his arsenal, Dark Spikes.

That seemed to do the trick. In the face of dark magic, the beast crumpled easily. Unfortunately, the same could be said for Ayumu. He fell over, out cold. “We have to get him to the infirmary, now!” Yoru cried.

“I’ll take him, you guys clean up here, okay?” Kai said. He got two nods so he picked up Ayumu and left with him.

“Looks like the soldiers are really dwindling,” Roa said. “Let’s make sure the Archbishop is okay.” With that he grabbed Yoru and pulled him towards the back of the room.

The closer they got, the louder the fighting got. They saw the three that were roped in; Hajime, Shun, and Haru were fighting off the dark mages. Roa noticed that one of the mages that was hiding in the shadows shot off dark magic. It looked like it was heading straight for the Archbishop, but before he could say anything, Hajime suddenly turned to the magic and blocked it easily.

“Nice one!” Roa called. He was amazed Hajime had reflexes like that. Regrettably, it seemed that him calling out to Hajime so suddenly distracted the other student. A shot of magic blew Hajime’s sword out of his hand. It also knocked open the coffin lid that sat behind him.

Hajime saw a sword inside the coffin and, without thinking, grabbed it to block the next shot of magic. He wasn’t expecting the sword to start glowing red as he used it to slash the magic in half.

“That’s the Sword of the Creator,” Haru said. He turned to Shun to see what the other thought about what was happening. As usual, Shun looked unfazed.

“They’ve got the sword! Retreat!” One of the enemy mages called. He was presumably the leader because the other soldiers began to follow his order of a retreat. Once all of the soldiers were gone, the Azure Dragon students met up.

“Looks like we pushed them out!” Roa said. “And Hajime got a fancy sword!”

“I’m not going to keep it,” Hajime said.

“No, you should keep it,” Archbishop Mikoto said. “There is no sense leaving it here when you can wield it.” Hajime didn’t seem to have an argument for that and instead started swinging the sword around, getting a feel for it.

“Where’s Kai and Ayumu?” Koi asked.

“Ayumu exhausted himself and Kai took him to the infirmary,” Yoru answered. “I’m going to go see him.”

“Let’s all go, and let him know that we won!” Kakeru said. With that, the Azure Dragons made their way out of the Holy Mausoleum. There were some soldiers waiting outside that escorted the Archbishop back to his chamber. Also waiting outside were the rest of their classmates.

“Well if you guys aren’t a sight for sore eyes,” Takaaki said.

“We could say the same,” Roa said. “I take it you guys won your fight too?” He walked over to inspect the group, checking on their condition.

“Yup!” Sora said cheerfully. “There was a weird beast thing though. It got Shu.” Sora’s face fell at the memory.

“He’s gone?” Roa asked. All of the cheer left his body and he stopped walking.

“No! He’s just in the infirmary,” Takaaki quickly corrected.

“Oh, thank the goddess,” Roa said, relieved. “We’re on our way to see Ayumu in the infirmary, you guys should come.” With that, the entire class made their way to the infirmary. 

As soon as they got inside, Roa noticed someone strange. “Who are you?” Roa asked the guy that was by Ayumu’s bedside. 

“A friend of Ayumu’s,” He said confidently. “Kai, I believe it was, asked me to watch him since he had something to take care of.”

“What could Kai have needed to do?” Yoru wondered out loud. Something about that felt weird to him.

“Reiji is not a friend of mine,” Ayumu spoke up abruptly causing everyone in the room to jump.

“Come on, I think you should be able to call me a friend by now,” Reiji said. He patted Ayumu’s head affectionately. Ayumu weakly reached up to swat his hand away.

“I’m back!” Kai called. Yoru sniffed, he smelt a familiar smell on Kai.

“Were you eating ramen?” Yoru asked. Immediately Kai went as white as a sheet. Yoru hit the nail on the head.

“Let’s not get mad at Kai. He worked hard as the leader of Team Ultimate Mecha Heroes,” Roa defended. Yoru had to agree that Kai ran around the battlefield more than he did. No wonder he was hungry.

“How are you Ayumu?” Koi asked.

“I’m okay, just tired. I’ll be fine by tomorrow,” Ayumu said. “Shu on the other hand.” Everyone’s attention turned to the other bed where Shu was resting. A lot of his body was covered with bandages.

“You all are here, good,” Kanade said as he came into the infirmary. He stood in front of the group. “I heard you won your battles. That’s good. You should all rest up.” There was a chorus of agreements. “We’ll talk about your performance in class tomorrow. Don’t forget about the quiz.”

“We still have a quiz?” Roa whined.

“Yes, it is a short one, so you’ll be fine,” Kanade answered. With that, everyone said their goodbyes to Ayumu and went to their own rooms to rest. Some of the students went to the dining hall first though.

Issei and Ichiru weren’t really sure where to go. They usually spent some time with Shu at night and now he was injured. They had been told that they weren’t allowed to stay in the infirmary either as it was going to get crowded with soldiers that had been injured in the fighting.

“Should we go get something to eat?” Issei asked his brother, trying to keep their spirits up.

“I’m not hungry,” Ichiru said. Of course it was hard to think about eating, but they should definitely be hungry after all of the fighting.

“They might be serving something really good,” Issei tried again.

“I don’t care. I’m not hungry,” Ichiru maintained.

“You two!” A voice called out. “Isse, Ichi!” It was Eichi. Issei was relieved, he might be able to help him get Ichiru to feel better.

“Hi Eichi,” Issei greeted. Ichiru just ignored him.

“What’s up with the long faces?” Eichi asked.

“Shu got hurt!” Ichiru blurted out.

“I’m so sorry,” Eichi said. He came closer and wrapped an arm around each of the twins, pulling them close. “It’s hard to see someone you care about get hurt, but he’ll be okay.”

“I couldn’t protect him,” Ichiru said, wiping at his eyes.

“But I’m sure that he protected you,” Eichi said. “Sometimes you get to protect him, and other times he gets to protect you. It wouldn’t be fair otherwise.”

  
“But,” Ichiru started.

“No buts. That’s just the way it is. I’m sure you are hungry. Let’s go see what they're serving in the dining hall,” Eichi said. Ichiru looked like he wanted to protest more, but Eichi pulled him along anyway. Issei was glad that they met up with Eichi.

XxX

The next day came too quickly and the Azure Dragon students, sans Shu, were seated in the classroom. “First the performance report and then the quiz,” Kanade said. “For the students that went to the Holy Mausoleum. I heard that you got extra support which I think was a great idea. It sounds like you also had to deal with a troublesome beast.”

“It was so strong!” Roa said.

“Do you know what could have made things easier?” Kanade asked. Roa shook his head. “If you stuck together. I heard that you guys spread out to cover a large amount of area rather than sticking together.”

“We had to protect all of the valuables,” Kai said.

“While that’s true, you should have determined what you could protect with the amount of people that you had. Since you were so spread out, you overexerted yourselves too much.” Ayumu looked away sheepishly. “With that being said, you did manage to protect everything and only have minimal injuries.”

“So we passed?” Roa asked.

“Yes. On to the Library team. You were tasked with protecting _the entrance_ to the Library. I heard that you went inside.”

“Oops,” Takaaki said, not sounding the least bit surprised or apologetic.

“Putting that aside for now, and I must tell you the Archbishop was not happy, it seems like you managed to prevent any damage from occurring inside the Library despite the close quarters battle. You even had to deal with beasts. That is quite an impressive feat.”

“No big deal!” Nao gloated.

“I do hope that you will be more careful to follow instructions in the future,” Kanade said. Everyone knew that he could have said something about Shu being hurt, but he must’ve seen how much everyone beat themselves up over it.

“Now with that, let’s begin the quiz,” Kanade said. He began passing out half sheets of paper. Kakeru was happy to see that it was a short quiz. To be honest, Kanade was a great teacher. He always gave short quizzes and they were usually easy. It seemed like he just gave them because the Academy required him to.

Kakeru wrote his name on the exam and cheered in his head when he saw there were only three questions. Number one was easy, ‘what’s the Archbishop’s name?’. Mikoto. The second one was just as easy. ‘If you don’t bring your weapon into battle, you’ll wind up ___’. Dead.

The last question was also easy. ‘What time do afternoon classes start?’ They didn’t always have afternoon classes, but when they did, they were always at 3:30. Kakeru looked over his answers making sure that he didn’t just read anything too fast when he noticed. The answers were: Mikoto dead 3:30. It was just like the threat!

Shaking a little, Kakeru got up to turn in his test. Koi had jumped up right before he did and was also turning in his test. It was unusual for Koi to finish before Kakeru. The two of them went back to their table in the back. Seeing Kakeru’s questioning look, Koi leaned over.

“Apparently the girls had this quiz last week. Their teacher always gives the same quizzes as Kanade, but they're a week ahead. My sister told me the answers. I wrote them in the bathroom, so if you want to know for next week,” Koi whispered and wiggled his eyebrows. Kakeru, on the other hand, couldn’t believe what he had heard.

It was Koi. That wasn’t a real threat at all. He wondered how it had worked out to be just like it was written on the bathroom wall. Apparently he had been the only person in the class to see it. Koi couldn’t possibly have orchestrated it to be like the quiz answers, could he have? Kakeru looked at his happy-go-lucky friend and determined that was impossible. It must’ve just been a coincidence.

XxX

Shun and Haru left the infirmary. They had a rough time ‘helping’ to protect the Holy Mausoleum.

“He’s so amazing,” Shun gushed. “More perfect than I could have ever imagined.” Shun sighed longingly.

“He got the Sword of the Creator,” Haru said. “What are we going to do about that?”

“It doesn’t matter in the end. It would have been more convenient if we were successful, but it changes nothing that we weren’t,” Shun sighed. Haru could see that his friend was more stressed about this than he let on, but decided not to press him about it. Shun would withdraw more if he knew Haru was worried about him.

“Right. That means that Hajime is one of the biggest threats to our goals,” Haru said. Since he didn’t like Hajime, he would be more than happy to take him out in his sleep, but Shun wouldn’t like that plan.

“We won’t let Hajime interfere with our plan,” Shun told Haru. “I know that if he causes any problems, you’ll take care of it.” Shun sighed. “I hope it doesn’t come to that though.”

“I don’t think Hajime will let you take over all of Mushiki without a fight,” Haru said.

“That’s because he doesn’t understand that it has to be done. No one does, except us,” Shun said. Haru pat his friend on the back. “I won’t let my personal feelings get in the way,” Shun said. “The balance of the whole world falls onto my shoulders.”

“You’re too strong, Shun,” Haru said. “Feel free to lean on me more.”

“Thanks, Haru,” Shun said.

“So, we know that Hajime has the Sword of the Creator, and since he can wield it, it stands to reason that he has the Crest of Flames,” Haru said. “We might be able to retrieve the Sword from him during his time here, but once he leaves, it will become significantly more difficult.”

“What if we persuaded Hajime to join our cause?” Shun interrupted.

“We can tentatively add that plan, but I honestly doubt it can be done. If he were on our side though, that would make taking the Church down much easier,’ Haru said. “They would never expect Hajime to turn on them.”

“Our forces are growing by the day. At this rate, taking over the Church, even facing Hajime with the Sword of the Creator, might not be as difficult as it originally seemed,” Shun said.

“With the research progressing as it is, we’ll have stronger beasts too. Those ones today were formidable, but that is just the tip of the iceberg,” Haru said. Shun grimaced at the mention of research. “Within the next year, I predict that we will be able to go ahead with our assault.”

“That’s definitely faster than we thought,” Shun said. He then sighed again. “I’m going to head to the cafeteria and get something to eat.”

“Would you like me to come with you?” Haru asked. Shun shook his head.

“I want you to see what Hajime is up to. We’ll need to know what he knows about the situation and see if we can find some type of weakness to exploit,” Shun said.

“I _will_ find his weaknesses,” Haru said firmly. Shun giggled and pat Haru on the head.

“One day you will beat him,” Shun said. With a wave, the two parted ways. Shun headed to the cafeteria hoping to find something yummy. He wasn’t really in the mood for a full blown meal and would rather have something snacky.

Upon arriving in the cafeteria, he noticed it was nearly empty. That meant there would be no food at all. “I guess I was the unlucky one today,” Shun said. He usually did a daily fortune telling, but had been too busy this morning to do so.

“Shun,” Kai said, waving to the other male.

“Kai?” Shun asked, confused as to why he was there.

“Did you get hungry?” Kai asked. “I made some ramen. I made some extra, and I really don’t want it to go to waste.”

“That sounds delicious!” Shun exclaimed. Kai dipped some ramen out for himself and for Shun and then directed him to a table to sit down together. It was strange eating in the empty dining hall.

“That battle sure was tough,” Kai said. “I worked up quite the appetite running around like that. I’m glad that we got the extra help!”

“It was no trouble for us,” Shun said.

“Yeah, you Vermillion Bird kids haven’t caught a break and you’re still raring to go!” Kai exclaimed. “I mean, you guys just had a mission and you want to help us with ours!”

“It’s really no trouble,” Shun said. “We all want to protect the Monastery and our friends.” Kai noticed that Shun seemed a little off when he mentioned the Monastery. Kai wondered what was going on there, but figured it wasn’t his place to pry.

Shun seemed like he had it rough fighting in the Mausoleum. Even though there were no outward injuries, it seemed like he was battling with something internally.

“You know, Shun,” Kai said suddenly. “Whatever is going on, just know that you can rely on me, okay?”

“Kai,” Shun said, surprised by the other’s unexpected words of comfort.

“Even though we might be in different classes, be from different classes, and have different social statuses, it doesn’t matter to me. I will always be here for you, Shun,” Kai said smiling. Shun couldn’t help but to smile back.

“Thank you, Kai,” Shun said. With that, Kai stood up.

“I should probably get to the infirmary to check on Ayumu. If you need me, no matter what time, I’ll be there,” Kai smiled.

Even though Shun’s unease wasn’t cleared up completely, he felt that he would sleep a little better tonight knowing that Kai would always be there for him.

XxX

**Nozomu & Ren: C-Support**

After the fiasco involving beasts within the Monastery, Ren couldn’t stop thinking about Nozomu. To be saved two times in one day like that made him feel incompetent as a Knight, but there was also a part of him that was really happy he was rescued. That same part of him was currently beating a mile a minute.

“Ren!” a voice called out to him, breaking him out of his thoughts. It was the very same person that he had just been thinking about.

“Nozomu, it’s nice to see you,” Ren said stiffly. He could feel his face getting hot already. Nozomu didn’t seem to notice his friend’s discomfort, and continued talking.

“I was talking to Kai and I learned this really cool trick with a lance!” Nozomu gushed. It seemed that most of the students at the Monastery idolized Kai’s ability with a lance, which was understandable, considering his skill level was high.

“Great!” Ren said, forcing a smile. Nozomu gave his friend a weird look, so Ren looked away. He knew that his face must be completely red by this point.

“I was going to ask if you wanted to help me practice it, but you look really red. Are you feeling okay?” as Nozomu asked this, he got in closer to Ren. Ren panicked and moved away.

“I’m feeling totally fine, I just got a little sunburnt is all!” Ren hoped Nozomu wouldn’t see through his lie. Nozomu looked up at the cloudy sky and then back down to Ren.

“In this weather?” Nozomu questioned.

“Somehow! I guess my skin is feeling really delicate today. Probably because of the dry air,” Ren said, nodding his head sagely as if what he was saying made sense in the humid spring months.

“I know what’s going on,” Nozomu claimed. Ren felt his heart begin to race again.

“You… you do?” Ren hesitantly asked.

“Yup! You _are_ sick!” Nozomu said. “You were training all night, and you caught a fever! You probably don’t realize this, but it isn’t sunny today. It just seems like it is, because your head’s all foggy. Don’t you worry, I’ll take you to the infirmary and you’ll be feeling better in no time.”

“Um, yes, I believe you are quite right,” Ren said. If he went along with this, Nozomu wouldn’t find out about his… Ren blushed harder at the thought of what he felt for Nozomu.

“I’ll carry you to the infirmary,” Nozomu said.

“No!” Ren yelled. “I can go there by myself! I’ll see you later!” And with that, Ren was dashing off to the infirmary, leaving Nozomu alone in the corridor.

“Oh…” was all Nozomu could say.

XxX

Eating lunch with students from other classes had become commonplace within in the first couple days of class. Many of the returning students had friends in other classes, and the new students were making friends with those they trained with or those with nearby dormitories.

Since lunch was one of the few times Nozomu got to see Ren, he was excited. The two of them usually ate lunch together with their friends, Sora, Soushi, and Morihito. Morihito had initially been drug along by Nozomu since he didn’t have any friends of his own yet, much to Morhito’s displeasure, but was now comfortable talking and hanging out with everyone.

“Where’s Ren?” Nozomu asked, sitting down the group’s usual table. Soushi was the only other one sitting down, as Sora and Morihito still had to get their food. Nozomu scanned the cafeteria once more to make sure he didn’t miss his friend.

“He’s sitting with a few of the students from his class,” Soushi said. It was clear that there was something going on with Ren, but Soushi had been unsuccessful in his prying earlier.

“I… see,” Nozomu said, trying to convince himself it was fine. “Well, I guess we can’t all eat together every day,” Nozomu said, not letting himself feel down. “He’ll come eat with us again tomorrow!” Nozomu was happy upon realizing that, and sat down to eat his lunch.

The next day came, and then the next, and then the next, and Ren was still eating with some of the students in his class. In fact, it wasn’t just lunch! It seemed that every time Nozomu went to ask Ren to do some training with him, or to help him study, the other was always with someone else. By the end of the first week of this, Nozomu was ready to confront Ren.

“Ren!” Nozomu said, finally catching the other alone. Ren jumped and looked around panicked.

“N-Nozomu,” Ren stumbled out, eyes scanning for an escape route.

“It seems like I’ve hardly gotten to see you this week,” Nozomu admitted up front. He just wanted to spend more time with his friend.

“Oh, sorry,” Ren said, looking sad.

“It’s okay! I was just wondering if there is something going on? Did I say or do something that made you angry with me?” Nozomu asked.

“No!” Ren quickly exclaimed. “I just…” Ren seemed to be at a loss for words.

“Let’s hang out right now!” Nozomu said. Ren shook his head vigorously.

“I can’t. I have to, um, go to bed,” Ren said.

“This early?” Nozomu asked.

“Yes! Goodnight, Nozomu,” Ren ran past Nozomu towards the dormitories. Nozomu didn’t know what he did to upset his friend, but he vowed he would make it right.

**You & Yoru: C-Support**

Yoru was on his way back to his room after spending time in the Cathedral. It was the middle of the night and most students were in bed. Yoru prayed that tonight would be a good night and that nothing bad would happen.

When he got closer to the dormitories, he noticed that one of his fellow classmates door was ajar. It was Koi’s. Yoru approached the door and saw movement inside. He stumbled back in alarm, and quickly moved to unlock and enter his room. As he got into his room, he tried to calm his breathing. Someone or something that was not Koi was inside Koi’s room. Yoru pondered whether or not he should pretend he didn’t see anything. He really didn’t want to get involved.

“What if Koi gets hurt though? Won’t it be my fault since I didn’t try to stop it?” Yoru asked himself. He braced himself. He was the only one that seemed to be up at this hour and if he didn’t protect Koi, no one would. Yoru slowly opened his door back up and headed out into the hallway. There were no noises coming from inside Koi’s room.

“Maybe they’ve gone away…” Yoru said, about ready to head back to his room. As soon as he said this, he heard some clinking noises from Koi’s room. He couldn’t place what it was, but knew he had to go in and investigate.

“Or…” Yoru wasn’t brave enough to charge in on his own. “I could try scaring them away.” Yoru dashed into his room and picked up the furry blanket off of his bed. He quickly covered himself in it. Once the blanket was secure, Yoru felt his way out of the room and into Koi’s room. Once inside, he started making his best growling noises.

“What’s that?” someone hissed. Yoru couldn’t see very well under the fuzzy blanket, but he could see some shadows on his right side. He started slowly approaching, trying to imitate the way a beast would walk.

“Grrr,” Yoru growled again. He really hoped this would be enough to scare this person out of Koi’s room.

“Down doggy,” the person said. Yoru heard some footsteps. It sounded like they were headed towards the door. Yoru turned, trying to follow their movement. The person stepped out of Koi’s room, and as soon as they were out, broke into a run. Yoru gave himself a mental pat on the back, and threw off the fuzzy blanket.

“Koi looks like he’s sleeping soundly,” Yoru said, squinting in the darkness of the room. Koi was lying on his back, mouth wide open. It even looked like drool was spilling out. Yoru crinkled his nose up in disgust and left the room.

As Yoru entered the hallway, he turned his head to the left, catching some movement. All he saw was a flash of red heading down the stairs at the end of the hall. Whoever that was, must have been the person in Koi’s room! Yoru considered giving chase, but determined that he wouldn’t be able to catch up in time.

Yoru realized that he had left his blanket in Koi’s room, so went back in to retrieve it. While he was picking it up off the ground, he noticed an odd box lying next to Koi’s bed on its side. When Koi got up, he was surely going to step on this box when he got out of bed. Yoru lifted it up off the ground and set it on Koi’s desk.

Looking inside the box, Yoru saw a beautiful ring. It was situated on a cushion in the middle of the box. Upon closer inspection, it appeared the box had enough room for a second ring. Yoru was quick to put two and two together and gather that the red-haired person who had been in Koi’s room must have stolen the second ring.

“I have to get it back,” Yoru said. He would tell Koi what had happened, but he figured that no one would believe him. He and his crest only brought about misfortune. Some people would probably claim that he stole the ring or that he caused it to go missing. The only thing he would be able to do is track down the thief and take it back himself.

**Shiki & Tsubasa: C-Support**

After saying goodbye to the girls that he was chatting with, Tsubasa started the walk back to the Monastery. It wasn’t uncommon for Tsubasa to head into town to eat, especially this year at the academy. Due to some unfortunate circumstances, the girls had been moved from the Monastery to the Eastern Church for their education.

Tsubasa pouted. It wasn’t fair! He was so used to being able to flirt with his classmates, and having flocks of girls follow him wherever he went. Sure he still had guys that flocked to him, but it just wasn’t the same. At least Rikka was in his class. Though, sometimes when he was talking to his friend, his mind would drift. That had put him in an uncomfortable situation once or twice. He really didn’t understand where his friend Dai was coming from when he called Rikka manly.

Without even realizing, Tsubasa had already made it back to the Monastery. He figured he should head back to his classroom since classes would be resuming soon. With his extra time before class though, he could look over some of the materials for the upcoming exam. That plan was about to be changed though.

“It’s you.” Tsubasa turned sharply at the sound of that voice. There was only one guy that could grab his attention that quickly.

“ _Prince_ Takamura,” Tsubasa sarcastically said. The two students had been known for not getting along since their early days at the academy.

“Tsubasa,” Shiki said. “What are you doing?” Even though Tsubasa tried his hardest to not blow up at Shiki, that was enough to set him off.

“Are you really asking what I’m doing?” Tsubasa spat out. “As if I’m not allowed to be in the courtyard in front of our classrooms before class is about to start?” Tsubasa rolled his eyes.

“That’s not what-”

“Look, I get it. You’re royalty, so you feel like even us nobles don’t have the right to breath the same air as you. I’m so sorry for being in your bubble,” Tsubasa couldn’t stop himself now. He was furious. Just looking at the confused expression on Shiki’s face pissed him off further.

“Tsubasa, stop,” Shiki commanded. Tsubasa bit his tongue. The two glared at each other in silence. Tsubasa shook his head in annoyance. Of course Shiki wouldn’t have anything meaningful to say. He was just throwing around his authority. Tsubasa was about to turn and walk off when he felt a tickle on his arm.

Fear flooded through Tsubasa and he froze. He was too terrified to even turn his head and look at what it was. He felt the tickle move and he could then tell. It was a _big_ one. “Shiki!” Tsubasa squealed out. He held his breath. “Get it off!”

Shiki blinked at Tsubasa, confused by the total attitude change. What even was it that he wanted to get off. He scanned Tsubasa up and down, taking note that the blonde’s eyes were scrunched up tight and he was facing away. 

“Ah, I see,” Shiki said finally. The bag Tsubasa was carrying must be heavy. If Tsubasa was that tired he was asking Shiki for help, it must be quite the load. Shiki almost felt bad for holding Tsubasa up instead of letting him go to his destination. Shiki took the bag out of Tsubasa’s arms.

“Get it!” Tsubasa reiterated.

“I did,” Shiki said, holding up the lighter than expected bag.

“The, the, the bug!” Tsubasa screeched. He could feel it wriggling on his arm. Shiki looked at the harmless little ladybug on Tsubasa’s forearm. The small insect walked contentedly across Tsubasa’s arm. Shiki felt bad for moving it. He reached out and blocked the insect’s path causing it to climb off the blonde and onto his own hand.

“I got it,” Shiki said, holding his hand up to peer at the ladybug. Tsubasa cautiously opened up one eye, warily eyeing Shiki. He saw the vermin in Shiki’s hands and screeched. “Why are you screaming?” asked Shiki.

“Ah, no, no reason,” Tsubasa stumbled out, trying to regain his composure. “Anyway,” Tsubasa tried to look for something to distract Shiki from what just occurred.

“It’s really strange how you started screaming,” Shiki said. “Wait. Are you afraid of b-”

“Hey! That’s my bag,” Tsubasa reached forward to snatch his bag back from Shiki. Shiki held out his hand with the ladybug on it in front of Tsubasa. Tsubasa jumped back with a yelp. Shiki laughed.

“Shut up,” Tsubasa shouted. “Alright, okay. I’m afraid of bugs.” Tsubasa hated admitting his weakness in front of Shiki. 

“I see,” Shiki handed Tsubasa’s bag back to him.

“You can’t tell anyone,” Tsubasa demanded. With that, Tsubasa stalked off to his classroom. This was the first time someone found out about his fear, and of course it had to be Shiki.


	8. Blue Sea Moon, 1180 Part 1

Shiki looked around to make sure the entire class was there. When he noticed there were thirteen people, excluding himself, he decided to give his announcement. Walking to the front of the class, everyone’s attention was on him quickly.

“We have a mission,” Shiki said. “A Hero’s Relic has been stolen and we are to retrieve it.” Thinking that was enough information he took his seat.

“Wait, hold up, we need a little more than that to go off of,” You protested. “Which Hero’s Relic, where, when?” Several classmates echoed his concerns.

Shiki sighed, he hated long bouts of talking, but Fumihiko was too busy preparing for their mission to brief them. “We’ll be leaving in five days.”

“Can I ask something,” Ren asked suddenly. Since their teacher wasn’t there, he thought it would be awkward if he raised his hand rather than just spoke up. Shiki gave him a nod. “Why are we being asked to retrieve a Hero’s Relic? Isn’t that something that the family should take care of?”

“The Hero’s Relic belongs to the Murase family,” Shiki said. Dai gasped in surprise. Ren remembered that Dai’s last name was Murase.

“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t saying that we can’t go retrieve it. It makes sense if you’re here. Of course we would help out a friend in need. I mean Hero’s Relics are powerful and dangerous for one person to go up against alone,” Ren rambled.

“It’s fine, I get what you meant,” Dai said. “My sister had Koinobori last I heard. Although, we haven’t talked in a while because she stopped responding to my letters. I don’t know how someone managed to steal it from her.” He got several sympathetic looks from his classmates.

“They probably killed her for it,” Issa said bluntly. Dai seemed startled to hear this, but nodded his head solemnly.

“That’s horrible,” Futaba said.

“That’s life,” Haruto said. As an orphan, he knew about death more than most people.

“Dai, you have a crest don’t you?” Rei asked suddenly.

“Yes,” Dai answered shortly. He was still in shock of the news that his sister could be dead.

“Does your sister have one as well?” Dai gave a nod in response. “How peculiar. I have never heard of a pair of siblings both having crests.” Rei opened up a book in the stack next to him. 

“Are crests really that big of a deal?” Futaba asked. Neither he nor Issa had crests and he never really gave much thought into it. The more he thought about it, it did seem like his parents wanted to try for more kids. Maybe that was why.

“They are, crest-bearers have incredible powers that are much greater than that of any normal person,” Aoi answered.

“What sort of powers?” Futaba asked.

“It depends on the crest. There are scholars that devote themselves to studying crests,” Aoi wished that he knew more, but he only had basic knowledge. If only he had been born with a crest.

“That sounds pretty cool,” Futaba said.

“Crests are also important when it comes to Hero's Relics,” Shou chimed in. “Only those with crests may wield them. If the Hero's Relic and the crest match up, the weapon becomes even more powerful.”

“That’s why it doesn’t make sense how someone could have taken the relic from my sister,” Dai said. “Are we sure that it was Koinobori that was stolen?”

“Yes,” Shiki said. “There have been reports of someone attacking villages in Munakata territory as well as attacking the church. The weapon that the leader wielded had a very distinct look.”

“I see.”

“Did you say Munakata territory!” Ren exclaimed. “That’s my family. We should depart right away. My family could be in danger.”

“We’ll be leaving in five days,” Shiki repeated.

“The knights probably need time to prepare,” Arata said. “I guess we should prepare too.”

“Not only the knights, but the students of the White Tiger house,” Shiki said.

“We are working with the students from the Empire?” Hajime asked curiously. He hadn’t talked to a lot of them, but one student in particular came to the forefront of his mind. He couldn’t imagine working with him again.

“Yes.”

“The Empire,” Makoto grumbled under his breath.

“Is that a problem?” Koki asked. He didn’t know much about Makoto’s past, but figured that maybe his friend was from the Empire. 

“No,” Makoto said. Judging by his tight lips and furrowed brow, it was more of a problem than he was letting on. 

“Are there any more questions?” Shiki asked. He thought they covered everything by this point. “Great. We might want to use the rest of the class time to strategize.”

“Shouldn’t we do that with the students from the Empire?” You asked.

“Might as well have an edge when doing strategy talks with them,” Hajime said. “No doubt they are already coming up with their own strategies.” Hajime did not want to lose to Haru. “Ren can you tell us about the terrain of the Munakata area. That will likely be the battleground.”

Ren was too busy thinking about how he would have to work with Nozomu to hear Hajime. It was going to be so embarrassing. What if Nozomu rescued him again? He blushed just thinking about it.

“I think he might be sick,” Haruto said. Ren’s face had gotten quite red and he thought that his classmate might have a fever. 

“He probably is stressed out hearing that his family's territory is being attacked,” Shou said, sympathy laced in his voice. 

“It’s probably the Empire’s doing and we are going to be working with students from there,” Makoto muttered under his breath. Koki filed this information away for later. He knew that he wouldn’t discover what that meant just yet.

“What am I going to do?” Ren yelled suddenly as his thoughts about Nozomu became too overwhelming.

“We’ll help you Ren, but first we need to strategize,” Hajime said.”Can you tell us about the terrain?” This brought Ren back to reality. He couldn’t believe that Hajime was asking him for help.

“I can do that!” Ren said enthusiastically. “There is a large plain that is densely covered with forests…”

XxX

“Gather around, it’s briefing time!” called Dai. The White Tiger students had been called to the classroom on one of their days off from lecture.

“Please tell me we aren’t going anywhere today,” Shun said with a yawn. He had been planning to sleep all day.

“I hope we are! It’s been boring since the monastery got invaded!” Ruka complained. By this point, gossip about the break-in the month prior had spread to all classes.

“Yeah! Mission time, mission time!” Nozomu cheered.

“You just want a chance to show off your new technique,” Morihito said. He had helped Nozomu learn this technique, and was also dying for the chance to see it in action.

“You’re right,” Nozomu said with a laugh.

“Ahem!” Dai cleared his throat to get his student’s attention. “We are not going anywhere today,” Shun let out a ‘yay’, “but we will be leaving in five days. The destination is Murase territory.”

“Murase territory?” Tsubasa questioned. “What the hell is happening there?”

“Your territory borders Murase territory, right?” Eichi asked.

“Yeah, it does,” Tsubasa said.

“It might not be too long before there is trouble there, then,” Dai said. The Hero’s Relic kept by House Murase has been stolen.” Gasps were heard around the room at this. “We have reports that whoever took it is also wreaking havoc on Munakata territory.”

“But why?” asked Iku.

“We don’t know. We hardly have much information, but since this matter involves a Hero’s Relic, it is of the utmost importance to the Church that we handle this swiftly,” Dai said.

“Maybe I should ask Dai-chan if he’s heard anything,” Tsubasa said.

“He just told us what he knew,” Ruka said.

“Since when did Tsubasa get that close to our professor?” Gaku mused aloud.

“No, no!” Tsubasa exclaimed. “Murase Dai! He’s also attending the Academy! We pretty much grew up like brothers.”

“I’m sure if he’s heard anything, we’ll find out about it soon,” Dai assured Tsubasa before the blonde could speed out of the classroom to find his friend. “We need to talk about a course of action.”

“Why is all of this stuff happening in the Kingdom territory?” Ryota grumbled. “It seems like every month someone is heading there to take care of something.”

“It’s because of the unrest after the previous King and Queen died,” Haru informed. “They were assassinated five years ago.”

“Oh,” Ryota said.

“It’s like Seiran after the war then,” Mitsuru said.

“Maybe,” Ouka said. “It’s not like any of _us_ have been there to know.”

“Mitsuru wasn’t there long after the war either,” Shun said with a giggle. Both him and Ryota came to stay with me not that long after.”

“Yeah, so,” Gaku wanted to bring the group back on topic. It was somewhat uncomfortable discussing this topic, as both Ryota and Mitsuru were brought from their respective countries as hostages, and likely had some bad feelings. “Is there anything else we know about the current situation?”

“No. The reports came in fairly recently, but the Archbishop wants to handle this immediately, so we are going in somewhat blind,” Dai said.

“I hope it’s not just us going if they have a Hero’s Relic! It would be awesome if Hinata went!” Nozomu said. Nozomu had the chance to spar with the Captain of the Knights once and knew that he was a formidable foe. “I think Hinata could take them down even though he doesn’t have a Hero’s Relic!”

“We will be going with some of the Knights, however, not Hinata,” Nozomu’s face visibly fell at this piece of information. “We are also going with the Vermillion Bird students.” Silence fell over the classroom. Haru snapped the pen he had been jotting down notes with.

“At least they're diligent,” Reiji said. He would have been much more interested in going with the Azure Dragon students.

“Too bad it wasn’t the Azure Dragon students,” Rui spoke, as if reading Reiji’s thoughts.

“C’mon guys, why do you all look so down?” Dai asked. He hadn’t been aware that there was serious beef between the two classes. He knew Haru and Hajime, and Tsubasa and Shiki didn’t get along, but he thought that the rest of them were fine.

“It’s a chance to grow,” Rikka said, trying to be supportive of his upset classmates. Truthfully, he was a little excited by the thought--it was boring spending time with the same people all of the time!

“Poor Dai-chan,” Tsubasa said. “This is going to be so hard on him. At least he’ll have his big bro Tsubasa to take care of him!” Tsubasa thumped his chest. “I’ll make sure that we get that Relic back for his family!” Before Dai could stop him, Tsubasa was out of the classroom.

“At least it seems like he’ll be too distracted by Dai to fight with Shiki,” Ouka said. Ouka was part of the students not looking forward to this combined effort. He got along with most of the Vermillion Bird students, but not one of them. “At least I can make sure Issa doesn’t bully his brother.”

“This is definitely going to be exciting,” Ruka said. “The march will be so lively!” Gaku knew his childhood friend wasn’t wrong about that, but it wouldn’t be the good kind of lively. Hopefully there weren’t too many injuries on the trip.

“This is the perfect chance to make things right with him,” Nozomu said to himself. Morihito didn’t know who his friend was talking about.

“Well, that just about wraps up this discussion. Get in plenty of last minute training. We’ll still be continuing lectures like normal, but I expect you guys to buckle down hard on the training. I’ll move the exam to next week,” Dai was only moving the exam because he hadn’t finished writing it yet, but the students didn’t need to know that. The knowing smile that Shun sent his way was almost eerie, but he chose to ignore it.

“This is just great,” Haru said. While it would be a good opportunity to observe Hajime in action, he didn’t want to be forced to work with him!

Since it seemed like the students were mostly ignoring him, Dai packed up his things and left. With the way things were between his students and Fumihiko’s, it didn’t bode well for the future of Mushiki. At least the House Leaders, the future rulers of their respective countries, seemed to get along well.

XxX

Kensuke couldn’t believe what he had heard. As he was strolling through the Monastery before training, he had overhead the Knights talking about a mission in the Kingdom territory. Apparently both the Vermillion Bird class and the White Tiger class were participating.

He thought that last month the Azure Dragon class had proved themselves capable of handling missions, but it seemed they were back to just training instead. He was so lost in thought he didn’t realize when he had almost tripped over someone.

“I am so sorry,” He apologized to the man in front of him. Said man was sitting on the floor and seemed to be loitering. He was probably homeless. A lot of people came to the Monastery for sanctuary if they lost their homes.

“It’s okay,” the man said. He gave a long sigh.

“Are you okay?” Kensuke asked. Even though he knew he shouldn’t stick around and talk when he was already late enough as is from eavesdropping, but the man seemed so troubled.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just been a while since I’ve seen a friend of mine,” he answered. “I know that he is a student here, so I went looking for him. I couldn’t find his dorm though. While I was searching around, I got lost in thought. I ended up underneath the monastery and while I was down there I lost a precious keepsake of mine.”

“That’s awful!” Kensuke said. He debated his options. Missing out on one day of training couldn’t hurt. “I’ll help you find it.”

“I appreciate the offer, but it’s too dangerous. Besides, you probably have something that you need to do right now, you certainly seemed like you were in a hurry.” It didn’t seem like there was any room for debate, so Kensuke waved farewell and headed towards the training center. He really wished he could’ve helped the man.

Upon arrival he could see that he was the last one there. Everyone was already training amongst themselves except Roa and Takaaki who were in the corner. He figured that they were waiting on him so he went to go talk to them.

“We have to get some sort of idea about what their next move is,” Takaaki mumbled to Roa.

“I know, but we also need more power to fight them,” Roa insisted. “It wouldn’t do to-” Takaaki seemed to notice Kensuke as his face changed into a smile. He also hit Roa in the ribs to get him to stop talking.

“Hey, you’re a little late,” Takaaki said. “You’re lucky that Kanade isn’t here.”

Kensuke decided that he would push his luck and ask what they were talking about. “So who are you trying to fight?” Roa and Takaaki both looked at Kensuke surprised. Neither of them seemed to know what to say.

“We were just talking about hypothetical strategies,” Takaaki recovered first.

“Got to keep your body _and_ mind sharp,” Roa said. “But right now you should be focusing on your body so why don’t you get some training in with Shu?” He pushed Kensuke towards where Shu was practicing some moves on a dummy.

Kensuke figured that they wouldn’t tell him anything and decided to drop it. He jogged over to Shu. “Want to train with me?” He asked.

Shu turned towards him and smiled. “Of course. I’ve learned some new moves from last time, I’ll teach them to you if you’d like.” Despite a lot of people developing new moves and using them to win against others, Shu liked to come up with new maneuvers to share with everyone. 

“Sounds good,” Kensuke said. He hoped that he could master some to use against people in the other houses. Of course to make Shu proud, he would show them the moves after he beat them. He wondered if one day Shu would be a combat instructor.

After they had been training for a while, Kensuke decided that he should ask Shu about Roa and Takaaki. He was close to both of them, so maybe he knew what they were talking about. “Roa and Takaaki were talking about needing more power to fight someone earlier.”

“They were?” Shu asked. He seemed to be surprised, that meant he probably didn’t know anything either.

“Yes, they told me it was just strategy talk,” Kensuke said.

“Are you guys talking about Takaaki and Roa?” Kai asked. “I heard that they had plans to find Abyss.”

“What’s Abyss?” Kensuke asked.

“There’s a legend that I heard my first year about the sprawling underground,” Kai said. “Apparently if you fail all of your tests, you are forced to live in the underground city, never to see the light of day.”

Kensuke gulped, “Really? Does it exist?”

“I’m not sure, I passed too many of my tests,” Kai boasted. He pumped a fist in the air. “I’m sure that it was just something they told students who weren’t doing that great to motivate them.”

  
“You should pass _all_ of your tests,” Shu said. Kai’s arm fell back down to his side. “Regardless, there are rumors of its existence that are passed around the school every year.”

“So did you hear about it too?” Kensuke asked.

“Yes, one of the upperclassmen from the Vermillion Bird house told me that he had been there,” Shu said. “He isn’t known for lying, but I still find it hard to believe.” Kensuke wished that they could ask that student, but if he was Shu’s upperclassmen that meant that he should have graduated last year.

“You should’ve asked him to take you,” Kensuke said. “On second thought, maybe it’s best that you didn’t.” He shuddered. “Who knows what’s down there. There could be snakes, and spiders, and criminals.”

“Did you say snacks?” Kakeru asked, bounding over with Koi in tow.

“Snakes,” Kensuke corrected. “Very different my friend.”

“Depends on who’s working at the dining hall,” Kakeru retorted.

“Have you two heard about Abyss?” Kensuke asked. He figured they probably hadn’t since they were first year students like himself. 

“What’s that? Are there snacks?” Kakeru asked.

“You mean the place underneath the monastery?” Koi asked. Kakeru turned to him like he had grown a second head.

“Yeah!” Kensuke said. He looked at Koi in anticipation. He really hoped that Koi had new information that would help them determine if it was real or not.

“My sister asked me about it once. She said that some of the girls had been there last year and were disappointed they couldn’t explore it since they had to go to the other school,” Koi answered. Kensuke deflated. It seemed like they only had rumors to go on.

“Why aren’t you guys training?” Kanade asked. “The training field isn’t to be used as a ground to stand around and gossip.”

“Sorry,” Kai apologized. “Have you heard of Abyss?”

“Of course I have, how could I not know about it,” Kanade said.

“Wait, is it real?” Kensuke asked. His heart was pounding. Kanade worked for the church. He would probably know exactly where it was at.

“No, it’s not real,” Kanade answered. “It’s just a rumor that was made up to make people study harder. I can only tell you guys that, since you are such diligent students.” He chuckled.

Figuring that the discussion was over, the students got back to training. Afterwards they all went to the dining hall to eat together. “And then I went ‘bam’ and he went ‘chup’, but I went ‘whoosh’.” Ichiru was giving everyone a re-telling of what happened when he and Nao sparred.

“Then I went ‘cha-zam’ and it seemed like it was all over until Ichiru hit me with a ‘boosh’.” Nao took over, getting just as animated as Ichiru was. They were pretty much recreating the sparring scene.

“Careful,” Ayumu said as Ichiru elbowed his cup of milk. For dinner, Ayumu was having two cookies. It didn’t seem very nutritious, but Kensuke couldn’t judge him. Yoru had made cookies earlier before training as a treat afterwards. It wasn’t uncommon for Yoru to make some sort of sweet on days they had intense training.

“Can I sit here?” Kensuke heard someone ask. He looked up to see who it was and saw the homeless man from earlier. He had a tray of food that they were serving at the dining hall that day.

“Yeah, sure,” Kensuke couldn’t believe it. He really was too nice. His sister always told him that it was a flaw and he would be taken advantage of, but he never really thought of it that way. Now he has a homeless guy who’s latched onto him.

“Thanks,” he said. He took a bite of his food, “I wish this was Koki’s cooking. He definitely is the best cook here. Oh, have I introduced myself? I’m Mamoru.” Kensuke knew of Koki, he was a Kingdom student. They sparred together on occasions. He also knew Koki seemed like he was really nice. The right kind of nice to be taken advantage of.

“I’m Kensuke. By the way, did you find what it was that you lost?” Kensuke asked. Even though this homeless man had latched on to him, he couldn’t treat him coldly to make him back off. It just wasn’t in his nature.

“No,” He said dejectedly.

“I don’t have class tomorrow, I could help you find it,” Kensuke said without thinking. It was a knight’s job to help out those in need though.

“That would be great!” Mamoru’s face lit up and he began eating with vigor.

“Where did you say you lost it?” Kensuke asked. He was pretty sure Mamoru told him earlier, but he was too preoccupied with getting to training that he didn’t remember.

“Underneath the monastery.”

“Right, underneath the-” Kensuke couldn’t believe what he heard. “Underneath?” He got a nod. “Like underneath, as in Abyss?”

“That’s the place,” Mamoru said. “I know it’s dangerous but you’ll still help, won’t you?” He looked at him with puppy dog eyes.

“Did you say Abyss?” Roa asked. He looked at Takaaki to make sure he was paying attention.

“Yes,” Mamoru answered.

“I was just asking him if he knew about it,” Kensuke said. For some reason, he felt like he shouldn’t tell Roa and Takaaki about it. Based on how they had been acting lately, something didn’t feel right. “Looks like he doesn’t.” Kensuke laughed to cover up Mamoru’s protest.

Mamoru kept trying to talk over Kensuke, but seemed to give up after a while. Kensuke was relieved he could stop laughing. He grabbed his water cup and downed it in one go. “Why did you tell them that?” Mamoru whispered.

“I’ll tell you tomorrow,” Kensuke wasn’t sure what he would tell him, but he would think of something. As long as nothing was said now, everything was good. Mamoru looked at him curiously, but dropped it.

“And then I said, I can’t eat another bite!” Kai laughed boisterously at his own joke. Unfortunately it seemed like he was the only one laughing. The rest of the dinner went as normal. 

Kensuke couldn’t get to his room fast enough that night. He had so much to think about. Tomorrow, he would be going to Abyss. It was actually real and he was going to see it.

XxX

The day of the mission arrived and the students were trickling in at the meeting spot. It was very early in the morning, far earlier than most of the White Tiger students got up, so all seemed a little groggy.

Even the Knights of Tsukino could tell that there was clear segregation between the two classes. There were two caravans loaded up with supplies and each class had picked one to mingle around. At this point there was no intermixing between classes. That wouldn’t last long though.

“If only I could have my _own_ sword for the mission this time,” Haru said in a snotty tone.

“It’s not _my_ fault that you lost your sword,” Hajime countered.

“I never said it was _anyone’s_ fault, but if you are admitting that you stole it, by all means,” Haru said. He held out his hand in the direction of the Vermillion Bird students. Hajime and Haru were at least 20 feet apart, so the gesture looked a bit ridiculous.

“I didn’t take your sword,” Hajime had two swords with him, the Sword of the Creator, and a sword he had brought to the academy with him. The second sword was nothing fancy, but it did its job.

“Now, now,” Dai said, exasperated by his students' behavior. “Let’s try to get along.” He slung his arm around Fumihiko. “Me and Fumihiko are best buds, so you guys should be close too.”

“That doesn’t actually make any sense,” Issa said.

“Doesn’t matter, just mingle. You guys aren’t staying separated this whole time. Think about the outcome of this mission if you guys can’t get along and work together,” Dai gave a pointed look to his students. He wanted them to be the bigger people here and extend their hand to the Kingdom students first.

“There’s no reason to mistrust one another,” Fumihiko said. “We are all working towards the same goals together, no matter where we were born.”

“That’s something I expected you guys to know,” Dai said, trying to show how disappointed he was.

“You’re right,” Shiki said. “This fighting is silly.” He moved away from the rest of the Vermillion Bird students. This seemed to break the tension.

“Hajime~!” Shun cried, he bolted past the rest of the class and bounded straight for Hajime. Before he could get to him, he was intercepted by Aoi, You, and Arata.

“C’mon, give it up, Shun,” You groaned. Despite how he looked, Shun was surprisingly strong. He broke past the three and hugged Hajime tightly.

“Shun,” Hajime said. “Get off.” Haru walked over, intending to fix Shun’s unsightly behavior, but paused to laugh at the predicament Hajime was in.

“Sorry about him,” Iku said to the other Kingdom students. Rui also bowed his head in an apology.

“He gets really excited about Hajime,” Rui explained to the confused class. Everyone in their class, including the first-years, had heard Shun go on and on about Hajime, so they weren’t as surprised by his behavior as the Kingdom students.

“Will Hajime be okay?” Haruto asked. He didn’t know whether or not he should get involved.

“He should be fine. He usually can walk for at least some distance with Shun attached if need be,” Shou said confidently.

“It’s actually pretty funny,” Ruka said. Several students were trying to get Shun dislodged from Hajime at this point, but to no avail.

“Time to get moving!” one of the Tsukino Knight’s called to the group. The two caravans were brought onto the path, one behind the other. “We’ll watch the front and the rear. The students should guard the sides of the caravans.”

“You’re not splitting up by class,” Dai warned his students before they could do just that. Fumihiko and Dai set about rounding up the students to each side.

“Can I ride on your horse?” Rui asked Aoi. Aoi was surprised by the sudden request.

“Of course you can,” Aoi said.

“Nooo,” Arata whined. “I wanted to nap on your horse Aoi!”

“Arata, it’s not good if you fall asleep while riding horseback,” Aoi scolded. He then helped Rui up onto his horse.

“How are you holding up, Dai?” Tsubasa asked his friend. Dai had been more quiet than usual, it had been the same for the past couple of days.

“I’m… okay,” Dai said. He knew he couldn’t lie to Tsubasa and say everything was fine. Tsubasa wouldn’t believe that. At this point, _no one_ would believe that.

“It is really a shame what happened,” Rikka said. He felt really bad for the younger male. “One of your sisters is sick, and the other, well…”

“One of his sisters... is sick?” Tsubasa questioned.

“Yeah!” Dai said quickly, shocking people walking nearby. After they had stopped looking, Dai continued. “My sister, one of my sisters, that is, is sick. Who knows about the other,” Dai looked off into the distance.

“There’s still the possibility that the Relic was just stolen,” Rei chimed in. “I’ve heard nothing about your sister’s body being found, which means there is still hope for her. Why would they go through the efforts of hiding her body?”

“That’s true,” Tsubasa said. “Ugh! There’s no point in thinking about the what-ifs! I wish we could just be there already!”

“Me too,” Dai said.

“We’ll be stopping near where we heard the latest report,” Reiji said. “It seems like it is somewhere in Munakata territory.”

“That’s my family's territory!” Ren cried out.

“It’ll be okay, Ren,” Nozomu said, going to give his friend a comforting hug. Ren noticed this and ducked out of it, leaving a confused Nozomu. 

“How long does it take to get there from the Monastery?” Reiji asked. Ren thought for a moment.

“I think about two-and-a-half days,” Ren answered.

“In three days, we’ll have this all figured out, Dai,” Tsubasa assured.

“Hopefully there aren’t any delays,” Koki said. “It can be rainy at this time of the year.”

“We won’t let rain slow us down!” Ruka cheered. “Let’s sing to pass the trip faster!”

“Let’s not!”

“Not again…!”

“Do we have to?”

A chorus of disagreements had followed this suggestion, but Ruka carried on as if he hadn’t heard them.

“C’mon Gaku, let’s sing Arcana Journey!” Ruka began singing the song. While there had originally been some complaints, everyone ended up joining in for a few songs.

XxX

“We’re stopping for the night!” Was the message passed along from the front of the group all the way to the back.

“Finally,” Issa groaned.

“Are you tired?” Futaba asked his brother.

“How could he be, he made you carry him most of the way on your back?” Ouka said. “How selfish. You shouldn’t let him treat you like that, Futaba.”

“Someone’s jealous,” Issa said, sliding off his brothers back and yawning. “I can’t wait until we get to settle down for the night. I hope they hurry and pitch the tents.”

“I want to share a tent with Hajime!” Shun exclaimed joyfully. “Could I handle his precious sleeping face? I want to know!”

“We’re sharing a tent, Shun,” Haru said.

“Yeah, Shun, you wouldn’t get any sleep otherwise,” Rui said. “You would just spend all night watching Hajime.”

“I guess you’re right,” Shun said glumly, pouting.

“How much of a freak is he?” Ryota asked.

“Not as much of one as you,” Mitsuru said.

“Like you’re one to talk,” Ryota rolled his eyes at Mitsuru's insult. “I can’t believe we’ll be stuck sleeping together… again.”

“I wonder if I’ll find any bugs,” Mitsuru said with a grin. Ryota bit back a scream. Just the mention of bugs got his skin crawling.

“Everyone get some dinner, and head to bed. We’ll be leaving early tomorrow. If you aren’t ready, we’re leaving you behind,” Fumihiko said to the group.

“I’ll have to work extra hard getting you up tomorrow,” Haruto told Shou. Shou let out a laugh.

“I’m counting on you!” Shou said.

“I just hope dinner isn’t something Haru came up with,” Morihito said with a grimace. Luckily for him, and everyone’s stomachs, dinner had been prepared by the Knights.

XxX

Two nights had passed and everyone was greeted the third day by rain. Since the sun was just barely poking out of the horizon, the decision was to get on the road immediately.

“I can’t believe we’re marching through this downpour,” Makoto complained to Koki. His friend nodded. “At least we should be getting close to our destination.”

“But once we get there, we might have to go further to catch up with the thieves,” Koki pointed out.

“Ugh, yeah, you’re right,” Makoto turned away, done with the conversation.

“I hope morale isn’t dropping too much,” Shiki mused aloud. Everyone seemed to be in low spirits ever since they had woken up to rain. If this continued, it might make the battle more difficult.

Soon after, they arrived outside of town. Some of the Knights went in to get information on the thieves current whereabouts and to see if they could narrow down the culprit. “We’re marching,” Fumihiko called out to the students.

“Based on what we have heard,” Dai said, “the thieves have secluded themselves in a chapel outside of town. They have killed off all of the clergy.” Several students grimaced at the news.

“What about my sister?” Dai asked. He was desperate for any information.

“I’m sorry,” Fumihiko said. “We haven’t heard anything, good or bad.”

“I see,” Dai looked away.

“The Knights are planning on charging the front, but we have information that there is a secret passageway that connects the church to town. It will give us an advantage two ways. First of all, it seems they may not know of the passage’s existence, so that gives us the element of surprise. Secondly, the ambush will be led through the front doors of the church. This passageway will take us to the back. Several students, including Hajime, will be leading an assault this way.”

“Why Hajime?” Nozomu asked Fumihiko. It was Morihito who answered.

“Because he has the Sword of the Creator,” Morihito said. “It’s more powerful than even the Hero’s Relics. Likely it will be our key to victory. The person we are up against has a Hero’s Relic, and, according to sources, seems to be able to wield it.”

“Hajime, we need you to take two small teams through the back. Once inside, your team’s job will be to get the Relic, the other team will make sure no one blocks your path,” Fumihiko said.

“Got it,” Hajime turned to Ren. “I could really use your help.” Truthfully, after the last battle, Hajime didn’t want Ren to stray too far from him. He knew that Ren could fight well, but a piece of him couldn’t let go what had happened.

“O-okay!” Ren stuttered out. Hajime didn’t really have any other preferences, so he pointed to Nozomu and Morihito.

“You two seem like you could be useful,” Hajime said simply.

“We’ll do our best!” Morihito said. He could feel his palms sweating. Why is he being picked for such an important mission?

“I’m going too,” Haru cut in. It would be most beneficial if he went to keep an eye on Hajime. He would discover his weaknesses.

“The second team?” Dai asked Hajime. Hajime shrugged.

“I’ll lead the second team,” Shiki volunteered.

“I want to go,” Dai said to Shiki. “I need to find out what happened to my sister.” Shiki nodded.

“Remember though, we are keeping Hajime’s path clear, not demanding answers from their leader. There might be a clue as to what happened to her in there though.”

“I can’t believe I have to go with _Prince_ Takamura,” Tsubasa said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“You don’t have to go with me,” Shiki said.

“If Dai’s going, I’m going to be with him,” Tsubasa said.

“Me too!” Rikka chimed in.

“It would be good to have a healer in one of the groups,” Shiki mused aloud.

“I can provide back-up,” Rei said. Shiki nodded.

“Let me go too,” Eichi spoke up. “I might not be the strongest here, but I can definitely hold my own. Wouldn’t it be good to have someone with a longer range weapon?”

“Did you bring a spear that isn’t broken?” Shiki questioned. As long as he had been at the Academy, Eichi had toted around a broken spear. While that was _okay_ for training, on a real battlefield, it wouldn’t work.

“My pole isn’t broken!” Eichi said. He got this comment way too much.

“Yeah, Eichi has a pool!” Nozomu said. He still hadn’t gotten to swim in it though. It was pretty cool that Eichi could use it as leverage whenever he wanted though.

“You should definitely come, Eichi,” Tsubasa said, just as Shiki was about to deny him.

“Sweet!” Eichi said. “I’m ready to go!”

“At least he seems motivated,” Rei said to Shiki. “He gestured around to some of the other students and even some of the Knights. The downpour was taking a toll on everyone’s morale.

“You’re right, I guess,” Shiki said. He didn’t understand how Eichi could be that effective in battle with a broken weapon, but couldn’t do anything about it now… unless he could find a spare spear in the convoy. He made a mental note to check before they set off.

“The rest of you guys will split into groups and help the Knights tackle the main force,” Dai said. “I’m expecting great things from all of you. Remember to work together and help each other out. If things go bad, fall back. We don’t want any of you dying on this mission.”

A chorus of ‘yesses’ rang out.


End file.
